Infinite Heavenly Song
by QuietWaters
Summary: What if in those fateful night of the tenth October twins were born? What if one was hailed as heroine and her brother was left behind, forgotten, never mentioned, his existence unknown to everyone in Konoha? What if a gray Orochimaru decides to take the lost newborn under his tutelage? Full summary inside.
1. Prologue: Prelude To Chaos

A/N: Welcome to my first non-OS fanfiction here on . I've recently read a lot of awesome NarutoxTayuya fanfictions but in my opinion there is still a serious lack of those fanfictions - so I'm going to throw my own two cents in. I hope you enjoy.

The pairing will be NarutoxTayuya and if you don't like that, hey, not my problem. I'm currently thinking about the addition of Kin Tsuchi and a female Kyuubi - thus creating a little harem, but as mentioned, I'm still thinking and will decide on my own. Creating a multi-chapter romance fiction with a harem as your first longer fiction is not easy to write, especially if you want everything to fit in perfectly.

**Warning: **Canon-junkies beware; I'll not follow the manga/anime plot exactly. I'll also turn the behavior of some key characters, but don't worry, everything will be explained. Rating will be T for Tayuya in the prologue and M for the later chapters as precaution, like always.

Legend:

"…Talking…" **"…Demon Talking…"**  
_…Thinking… __**…Demon Thinking…**_  
~~Timeskip/Flashback~~  
-Change of Location-

**Disclaimer:** QW does not own Naruto, but if, well, let's just say you would definitely notice the differences.

What if in those fateful night of the tenth October twins were born? One used to seal the youki of Kyuubi away, the other forced to contain the soul? What if one was hailed as heroine and her brother was left behind, forgotten, never mentioned, his existence unknown to everyone in Konoha? What if a gray Orochimaru decides to take the lost newborn under his tutelage? How will this affect the world and the prophecy of the toads?

_"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs - even though checkered by failure - than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."_ - Theodore Roosevelt

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**Infinite Heavenly Song**

_**Prologue - Prelude To Chaos**_

* * *

Orochimaru was a mystery to most humans of this world. Only three people came alone close to understanding him. The people he considered precious and himself. But who would that be, to be considered precious by a man as evil as the rouge Sannin?

To be exact, Orochimaru was more a man living in the gray shadows of this world. But what else should he do? It wasn't as if he had much of a choice - everything he ever did or said had had a deeper purpose. He was aware that most of his experiments were inhuman, not even borderline anymore.

The man with the long black hair and pale skin sat silently on his throne like seat in his meeting room, hidden in a base in the Land of Rice. Was it really the wrong way to pursue his dream - a dream that could possibly change the whole world forever? His facial features scrunched in confusion before he smiled genuine. Whoever would have saw that would be supposing a doppelganger.

_It's nearly a wonder how much of an impact a single being could have on me. I guess without the both of them, I would have totally lost it and become a real monster. He's really your son Kushina. Don't worry, I'll protect him, I still feel like I owe you at least that._, the Sannin thought, before he chuckled amused.

This was the moment a knock was heard on the doors that separated the room he currently was in from the rest of his underground base.

"Come in!", he said, already knowing who it would be.

As predicted by him, a beautiful woman, which looked to be in her early twenties or late teens, entered the room. Her purple hair was held up in a ponytail and she wore a revealing outfit, mostly composing of mesh clothes. A broad grin was on her face. Orochimaru nearly sighed at the sight of Anko Mitarashi, one of the persons he considered precious and somewhat akin to an adoptive daughter.

"How is your curse mark doing? Does it still hurt you?", the pale man asked, a slight hint of concern in his voice.

A few days ago he had changed the prototype of the curse mark he had once given his first student, so that she would be able to gain like his other more trusted servants level two. To enable this he studied a long time to find a way to override his previous mark without hurting Anko, at least not to much.

"Don't worry Orochimaru-sensei, the medication you gave me has worked and I think I can access stage two in two or three months.", she stated, scratching her shoulder where said mark was hidden underneath the clothes.

"Very well, but that will not be possible in a way you may think.", the Sannin stated and Anko looked shocked for a moment, but before she could retort Orochimaru already continued.

"I've finally made a decision about that _special_ topic we've talked about the last two months. Please bring Tayuya and my son to me, I'll explain everything then.", he said and bowing the snake mistress left to complete her newly appointed task.

_I can't stop thinking of him as my blood, even if I only adopted him. I just hope no spy will ever hear of this or it could become the downfall of us all._, the snake Sannin cursed silently, as soon as his student had left.

Knowing that Anko would most likely need a few minutes to find the training boy and the member of the Sound Four, Orochimaru awaited their coming in the impassive demeanor he was famous for. His body may didn't move, but his mind was running. He had to make a very big, influencing and dangerous decision, one that could possibly kill the ones he considered precious - but he would do everything in his might to prevent that from happening.

After nearly the quarter of an hour he had come to a sufficient decision, at least for the time being. His idea already rested mostly on the base of improvises, so there should be the possibility to create enough escape routes, if something ever did go wrong, not that he wished for it of course. As it again knocked on the doors, he wasn't even startled in the slightest.

"Enter!", the snake Sannin commanded.

Following the order of their superior, Anko walked up to the pale man, a redheaded girl with a scowl on her face that appeared to be around the age of twelve and a serious looking young boy, seemingly around the age of ten with a mop of spiky blonde hair atop his head, in tow. Orochimaru nearly sighed as he saw the woman and the redhead, Tayuya, bowing and his adoptive son only grinning at him before tilting his head. This didn't go unnoticed by the girl and being as hotheaded as she was, she whacked the blonde over the head with a flute she had seemingly produced out of nowhere.

"Goddammit, show some fucking respect shithead!", she yelled and gained a snicker from Anko, but before this could go any further the Sannin intervened.

"Tayuya, as much as I like the idea of Naruto learning some manners, I hope you'll refrain from hitting him.", he stated, only to get a pout from the redhead, but before she could realize her grave mistake, Orochimaru continued.

"At least, as long it isn't necessary.", he chuckled, today he was definitely in a good mood. Ignoring the protesting yell from the blonde, still sitting on the ground and rubbing his head, the Sannin's behavior turned businesslike and every occupant of the room snapped on alert.

"What I'll now reveal to you is something that will change the life of all of us for all eternity. I've a mission for you. A mission, where one wrong step would put you in a place worse than hell before you'll be allowed to die a long and painful death as nothing more than a ghost of your former self. You'll have to face odds like you've never seen before and it'll be five long years that you'll need to fulfill the tasks I've for you.", Orochimaru stated and shocked gasps escaped the lips of the persons in front of him.

"You'll infiltrate the Hidden Leaf, but under specially created disguises of course. Anko, you'll go to Konoha, taking Naruto and Tayuya with you. You'll try to become a special Jonin and work for the interrogation department. Gain as much information as you can about everything - other countries and their relationships to the Leaf for example.", the Sannin explained and the face of the woman turned excited. Oh, how she loved to torture and play games with her prey.

"Naruto and Tayuya, even if you've already completed missions for me and are Shinobi of the Sound, both of you are forced to attend to the Academy in Konoha, of course only to uphold your disguises.", he declared, shocking the youths. But before only one of them could retort, Orochimaru spoke up again.

"As a member of the Sound Four, you'll have to hide your true skill level. I know that you're two years older than him, however; you'll go to the same class as Naruto. That means that you'll have to act more immature. Your main task will be to gain as much 'friends' as possible - this will give us the possibility to see what potential each of the clans holds. Why this is so important you'll hear later. Your second task is to protect Naruto, even if you may have to outwardly forsake your friendship for the sake of the mission.", he addressed the redhead, before the Sannin turned his gaze on his adoptive son.

"Naruto, as soon as you meet him, you'll reveal to the Sandaime that you hold the soul of the Kyuubi.", Orochimaru said, his voice a little bit strained.

"Sensei!", Anko shouted confused and Tayuya stared in something close to shock, before she regained her composure. The Sannin remained unaffected, but only outwardly.

"I don't care how exactly you do it, but you'll investigate Konohas whole structure - from the canalization to the walls and create a detailed map. Search for weak spots in the defense and how the guards patrol. In class you will be the dead-last and hide your skill level - that means no high-level Nin-, Tai- or Fuinjutsu for you. All of this has a purpose of course - no one will expect you to do what you're doing. You must experience how the soul of Kyuubi reacts to the youki sealed within _that_ girl, which means you have to gain information about not only Nariko Namikaze but Sasuke Uchiha too.", the pale man declared, causing something in the eyes of the Uzumaki to vanish.

He wasn't even one bit happy about facing the child that Konoha hailed in their stupor as heroine, the one girl that held the power of his tenant at bay, or at least that was what they thought. Oh, how wrong they were. Their past mistakes would now come from the shadows and haunt them. The blonde was aware of the second purpose of the mission and why it concerned the Uchiha.

After all, his father had a dream, a dream he did know everything about, apart from the true reason behind it. If you want to gain more knowledge than thought possible, the Sharingan were simply necessary. The Sannin's dream of immortality had been solved for the time being with his technique to take over other bodies or regenerate himself like a snake, combined with a blood sample of the Uzumaki to increase the duration of his inhabitation of other bodies to five years.

"Kabuto will supply you and tell you the rest you need to know. You two are dismissed, I want to have a word in private with Naruto.", the Sannin stated, pointing at the females in the room.

After two times of silent reluctant bowing and leaving, Orochimaru was left alone with his adoptive son. The snake Sannin still tried to find a way to put everything in words, but the blonde beat him to the punch.

"Don't worry Orochimaru-sama, I'll never let you down. Remember, once you told me a wise a man said ages ago; 'Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs - even though checkered by failure - than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.', isn't this true? And I'll help you to achieve your dreams, your greatest victory - that is all I wish for after everything you've done for me. Farewell sensei.", the Uzumaki said emotionless, even if the Sannin still managed to her a slight quiver, bowed one last time before he seemingly vanished as the doors shoot close behind him only a second later.

"Farewell my son.", Orochimaru whispered with a almost sad smile. He suddenly had not only a very bad feeling about all of this but a bitter taste in his mouth too… After all, he had lived in Konoha once.

Outside of the meeting room stood Naruto, trying to calm himself but to no avail. He shivered ever so slightly at the thought of what would await him, after all he wasn't a fool and the Sannin had told him very much about the Hidden Leaf. It wouldn't be a wonder if he would become an outcast or the scapegoat of Konoha, that was, if they didn't decide to execute him. But, wasn't he a proud Shinobi of Sound? In the end, it was only a mission - which would benefit his adoptive father in more ways than he knew now.

"Oi, shithead, you aren't going to lose it now just because you'll see your bitch of a sister, do you?", an all too familiar voice asked, the concern hidden behind the foul language.

Turning to his redheaded companion and best friend he saw Tayuya flinch ever so slightly at the sight of his eyes, so he smiled at her, despite his inner turmoil.

"Thank you, but you don't need to worry, I'll be alright. But what about you Tayuya-chan? After all, you'll be forced to befriend those annoying brats. ", the blonde inquired, only to be whacked above the head, again.

"Of course I'll. And what have I told you about the '-chan'?", she huffed and threatened at the same time, before leaving.

"Just move your ass, Kabuto is waiting.", the only female member of the Sound Four called out.

As his eyes followed her form retreating into the shadows the blonde could only think about how everything started, in this fateful night nearly eleven years ago. Shaking his head he followed her into the darkness.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed my idea so far. As always, please tell me what you think of it, so I can improve myself.

Don't worry, I intend to make my chapters as long as in my OS or at least I hope I can make it that way, even if the first few chapters will be more around 2k-3k words, as pre-prologue.

See ya, QW

PS: Remember, you'll need patience because I still have a lot of plot bunnies running around in my head.


	2. Chapter I: Born In Blood

A/N: Hello and welcome back guys. First things first, here is QW's twin sister (and muse) writing and I've some very bad and some good news for you. My bro was the last days out cold after a very fucked up accident. I'll not reveal more, that's up to him, but lets say that I still want to make these assholes pay if I ever encounter them again. That aside the good news are, that QW has awakened four days ago and granted me access to his hidden save datas on . Therefore I can now present you what he has already written and some extra comments I typed with him in the hospital. Enjoy!

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Yo! QW here.

As already mentioned I was a little bit *cough* out of things and because of the funeral of my notebook there'll be even more problems in the future. Sorry guys, we're already working to solve it.

To come back to topic – I would really appreciate it if someone out there would be looking for errors so I can improve myself and stuff like that – it'll be already enough of a pain in the ass to remember/rewrite everything while everybody wants me to lay down and rest. Annoying wanna-be docs, I mean, what else can I do?

With regard to the harem and to answer an asked question for the audience; Tayuya and a female Kyuubi are definitely in, Kin is still under consideration (I like her but I'm not sure whether I want to write it or not – the authors curse) and regarding a possibly incest based relationship with his sister... well, love is love and it doesn't matter to me as long both sides enjoy it but I'll not put her into the harem. I've already most things planned out and most of the encounters between the twins belong to that list. I'll not reveal more, the authors note is already way to long, even if it was somewhat necessary.

Disclaimer: You should already know it. I don't own Naruto or anything else I inspire myself from.

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**Infinite Heavenly Song**

_Chapter I – Born in Blood_

* * *

It was a night to be remembered. The night in which a good quarter of the mighty Konoha was turned to little more than dust. The night of the tenth October.

It was the night where the fate of the whole world, be it for Shinobi or civilians, and the future of the existence of life itself was changed by the independent but still connected actions of four men.

These men were Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Hiruzen Sarutobi, retired Sandaime Hokage and Madara Uchiha, nearly immortal and hell-bent on destroying Konoha.

But there was a man left, someone, none of the mentioned, everyone a legend in their own right, even considered to be there – Orochimaru of the Sannin.

In the end he should be the one which actions would cause the seemingly smallest ripple in the ocean of time – but only outwardly. Unfortunately was this a story to be told later.

To come back on track – what would a man, a traitor to his home like the pale man with long black hair was want near the one village he hated the most and especially if he wanted nothing more than to see it burn?

It was to simple and illogical to be even considered – it was because of the one emotion that could make people stronger than ever before, unrevealed by the nothing besides the greatest forces, but because of this feeling it was even possible for them to become broken beyond belief and they were left behind, shattered beyond imagination.

What we are talking about is one of the few reasons mankind even considered struggling against far greater odds than itself – love.

But wasn't putting 'Orochimaru' and 'love' in the same sentence something way to far fetched, especially if it wasn't a denial? In this special case not, because the Sannin had a secret only two still living people were aware of...

Now it was around a decade ago that he first heard of the promising new Shinobi in Konoha, Kushina Uzumaki. It was more by accident, because in this time he was hardly one or two hours in a week out in the open because of his experiments and researches, so he didn't cared much about the rumors or anything else for that matter – he was aware of Konohas true nature after all. If little Anko hadn't bumped personally into the redhead while making an errand for the Sannin and told her master of the encounter he would have probably never heard of her... But he forgot it, as his experiments were signifying an end and his triumph.

His uncaring attitude and his isolation was something Orochimaru would really regret later – to be honest he still did so and would most likely do so until the end of his life.

But in that time other things had been way more important. As he finally completed his prototype of the seal that should be named as curse mark in the future, of course it wasn't named by him in such an accusing way, the Sannin gave it to his most promising student and adoptive daughter Anko and as the little Mitarashi survived against all the odds he feared during the creation of his ultimate epitome of battle-based research it was the proudest moment of his life.

But as always, any good thing or to be more specific improvement had it costs – but the Sannin was sure that he could handle whatever that was there to come. The life of Anko was possibly on the line after all.

As the purple-haired young girl awoke from her slumber, the following tests showed no reason for concern or alarm and as she was finally dressed properly, Orochimaru made sure of that, they left the bunker hidden under training ground 44. The Sannin wanted to ensure that some of his way more inhuman experiments were hidden properly from the eyes of everyone save himself and no Shinobi in the right state of mind would search in a place that was named 'The Forest of Death'.

The Sannin had seriously expected more of this place on the first sight, besides big trees, deadly plants and aggressive animals, maybe he missed a certain air. However, on the second sight the forest revealed his usefulness. Orochimaru was capable of isolating 18 different toxins, alone in the first month. When you take the plenty herbs, developed antidotes and resources the forest gave to anyone who was brave enough to conquer him you found the perfect place for someone like the Sannin.

But still, he had the ill feeling that his Sensei, no one else than the 'God of Shinobi' himself and currently Sandaime Hokage, suspected that he wasn't as white as he tried to appear, his paleness aside.

In his own opinion was this mistrust a nuisance to his plans of becoming the Yondaime Hokage... But there was another thought lurking around in his head. Did he still want to be one?

He was neither blind nor deaf, he saw how they threated his little adoptive daughter and he heard how they talked about him behind his back every time he went somewhere. Not to mention his cooperation with Danzo...

And there still was something more no one knew about him – you mess with his 'family' and you die, it was easy as that. He was sure his parents died because of the Leaf, all he needed was one last proof to complete the puzzle that was his past.

Orochimaru was a cautious and suspicious man, but as long as he was human even he needed some social bindings – especially considering the fact that he never had a family to begin with.

Anko was close to him and trusted by him because not only reminded she him of himself before he took her from the orphanage but she had that little bit of maniac insanity that he held too. Besides, he had seen the will and potential she held and never she had disappointed him, no matter how hard it may had been for her sometimes to live up to his expectations. He even was first reluctant about using her for his experiments because all he had promised and sworn himself was forgotten as he grow attached to the purple-haired girl.

People saw him as cold-hearted, but the truth was that he a long time ago realized that there was no one out there that could or would be with him – and so he buried his emotions, his very humanity.

But in his self-caused misery Anko had surprised him – she wanted to help him achieving his dream because of all the things he had done for her, meaning that she had no problem with being used for his experiments. Her opinion was that it couldn't be more painful than everything the village had done to her. And she trusted the man she considered as something close to a father with her life.

So there they stood now outside the Forest of Death, ready to face a village they held conflicted feelings for.

"What do you want me to do again Sensei?", she asked, her face a display of her confusion as she failed to remember what the pale man at her side had told her before the 'sealing process', the Sannin injecting her the mixture via bite, began.

"We both will now meet the Hokage, but before you show him the mark and what you can do with it I'll have to talk with him. You know that these people aren't very open-minded.", he sighed and steeled himself for the confrontation with society and his own Sensei.

As the strange duo walked through the crowded streets of their home many glances – most of them accusing, refusing or frightened - were shot in their direction until the crow nearly parted for them.

A reassuring hand found her way onto the shoulder of a very unconformable feeling Mitarashi as Orochimaru noticed some of the more dark glances that nearly undressed his charge. Even if she was young she was already well developed, no sense in denying that. A low growl formed itself in the throat of the Sannin. One wrong move from their side and his snakes would have some fresh meat, consequences be damned.

Besides this annoying stupidity of the civilians and ninjas alike the walk to the tower of the Hokage was quiet, neither master nor student needed much words to understand the other. Years of co-existence did wonders.

* * *

"Anko, I want you to wait here until you're called.", Orochimaru said in the secretary room of the Hokage's office, before he went to meet his old Sensei and a man he didn't know what to think of.

The 'Hai Sensei!' of his student went past his ears as his mind was focused on the imminent meeting, that would define the future in a way stronger than the Sandaime and even the Sannin himself could not assess.

A firm knock on the door and without waiting for the invitation Orochimaru entered the room. Hiruzen stood at the window, clad in his official robes, silently overlooking his village and the air was filled with the smell of his precious tobacco.

"I've awaited you. Before you state whatever it is that you've to say I want you to come with me – one of the proctors of the currently held Jonin exam had been badly injured. You can fill this gap and the opinion of all three Sannin is not only more balanced but better for the morale. Not to mention for you reputation.", the old man declared in the moment the Snake Sannin stood before his desk and turned around to face the student he once liked the most.

The pale man was fuming inwardly, this was so typical. But he had to keep his anger inside, for the sake of Anko and himself. He know that they were already suspicious of every action he made. So he bowed reluctantly as he made his decision.

"As you wish Hokage-sama.", Orochimaru said coldly and waited for his superior to move, while he tried to see a reason for this order, because it was definitely no request.

The Sannin got an odd look from his student as he left the office after his master only a few moments after entering, but he thanked Kami that Anko was intelligent enough to grasp the situation. With a single nod from his side he answered her slightly questioning gaze and understanding what he wanted her to do the Mitarashi left to the house they shared.

Non of the two noticed that with a single and hidden hand sign Sarutobi dispatched one of his Anbu to follow the young girl. The Hokage feared for her well-being because he felt that his student was up to something and that he would most likely not like it.

_It is so sad. What kind of man do you have become Orochimaru?_, the old man asked himself.

* * *

The Jonin exam was as boring as the Sannin expected it to be. Non of the participants was even in the slightest bit promising, at least in his opinion and his old 'comrades', Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya, both members of the Sannin too, were just plain annoying. Especially the white-haired man and his perversity.

_And here is the reason why I know I should leave with Anko. If this is the future of the Hidden Leaf..._, Orochimaru mused but his thoughts trailed off as the final round of the exam was announced and _she_ entered.

What happened in the moment Kushina Uzumaki set her first steps into the arena wasn't something as kitschy and overused as love at first sight. The Sannin merely snapped to attention because he felt a certain air around the redhead non of the fighters before had. Eying the young woman closely Orochimaru noticed that she carried herself with a resolve, will and seriousness he missed by most of the Shinobi of the Leaf.

_Now this is surprising. But who is she? With this flashy hair at least Anko should know who this woman is. Lets see if her skills can live up to her demeanor, if not, than its not worth knowing her name and wasting valuable time._, the Sannin decided and leaned himself slightly forward.

It may seemed as if he wanted to watch the fight with the eyes of a hawk, but neither the Hokage nor the other Sannin thought that way.

Sarutobi was worried, the pale man seemed interested in something, way to interested to be exact. He just prayed to whatever entity that was currently listening that it wasn't Kushina – Minato, whom he already thought of as possible successor one far day, wouldn't like that.

Tsunade noticed the change in Orochimaru's posture as well but was only proud because he seemed to be sizing up her student and she was certain that Kushina was way stronger than whatever student the Snake Sannin may had. That let her made a mental note to ask the Sandaime if Orochimaru was even teaching someone.

Jiraiya was split in his thoughts, because he wasn't sure whether or not the increased attention of his fellow Sannin should be considered good or bad. It were to many scenarios with to many consequences... But the proctor ended all lines of thought.

"Hajime!"

* * *

_Well, I really should gain information about that redhead. She and her knowledge could be useful, or at least a blood sample would most likely come in handy later. But there is something about her surname... I've definitely read about it before, because on the one hand there was never an Uzumaki-clan in Konoha to begin with, but she didn't seem to be a stranger. Maybe Anko knows some-_

"Orochimaru-sama?", someone asked and forced the Sannin out of his musings.

What followed was possibly the oddest scene that he ever experienced so far. After turning around he came face to face with the woman he thought about only seconds earlier.

"I saw your reaction after my fight. Would you honor me with allowing me to become your student?", Kushina Uzumaki, future wife of the future Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze asked the future traitor Orochimaru, who was beyond speechless.

* * *

Forceful brought the Snake Sannin his thoughts back to the present. Now wasn't the time to dwell in the past – he had to make a decision grave enough to be his downfall. Contrary to all reason, logic and pleadings of Anko he went to Konoha as he gained word from his sleeper spy Kabuto that Kushina Uzumaki was pregnant and the time of birth close – and only one man could be held responsible for that, one more reason why the hate of Orochimaru burned so bright tonight.

With his serpent eyes he stared down at the village he wanted to destroy with every fiber of his being. And his wish should be granted partial tonight and a deeper silent desire of the Sannin should be fulfilled too – both because of a man he didn't know.

_You should have chosen me as your successor old man. All it needed that night was a simple word from you – but no, you mistrusted me and elected that brat! Not only has this worm the only woman I ever loved, but he even managed to steal me the only title I ever wanted! What has this asshole that I don't have? He is maybe near the level of a Sannin, but he lacks the experience of an all-out war. So what if he killed a few nins of Iwa? I'll never understand the stupidity of a sheepish society. You all should burn in hell!_, Orochimaru raged and he saw the beautiful pictures of a burning village in his head.

As he blinked and the images didn't change but sirens were added to the scene a question mark started to form itself over his head – only until the Sannin heard a mighty and frightening roar as he was greeted with the sight of a tall nine-tailed fox, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Immediately he knew what had happened, he did know who the Jinchuuriki of the fox was after all, even if he denied it, because there was only one thing that could have happened to Kushina that would have caused her seal to break fully and unleash the fox. She died while giving birth.

_This... this... Impossible! No, it cannot be!_, was all the Sannin managed to think.

In the void of his thoughts his hate grew as he realized that there was no chance of the redhead surviving or being still alive. His already burning rage was replaced with an eternal inferno that let his former emotions look like a flickering candle.

Orochimaru's body tensed as he clenched his jaw, balled his hands to shaking fists while he tried to maintain control over himself, but to no avail.

As the Kyuubi was brought out of Konoha and reappeared around a mile away from it in only a heartbeat, the body of the Sannin moved on its own in the direction of the fox. Only one technique could have done that... And only one man was capable of doing so... With thoughts of avenging someone precious to him and the image of a bloody blond corpse at his feet he jumped through the trees into the direction of Minato Namikaze – or he wanted to as he regained his senses.

_I cannot do this. The very first moment I step out in the open I lose._, Orochimaru realized, he could sense the faint and perfectly hidden chakra signatures now that he was again himself.

_Who will avenge Kushina than, if I fall? Who will take care of Anko? Who will bring the Leaf down for all their mistakes?_, he thought saddened, he should have never come back here, or at least only with an army of elite Shinobi, this place only caused him more and more grief.

_One day I'll make you pay, all of you!_, the Sannin raged one final time before he retreated into the darkness, watching for now and waiting for the opportunity to strike.

* * *

No one passed the little black snake laying on the tree branch above a second glance or even questioned it being there – after all they were in a forest. Maybe they didn't consider the possibility of the animal being Orochimaru in disguise – or they were just to distracted by their dying Yondaime Hokage and the little bundle he had in his arms... Surely it was the latter.

The three figures in front of the dying blond were full of grief, her faces saddened and one of them, a young boy with silver, slightly gravity defying hair was actually crying.

"You used _it_, am I right? But why? What happened to Kushina?", asked a tall man with long white hair, who was no one else than Jiraiya of the Sannin, the former master of the Yondaime.

"Strange man... orange spiral mask... broke through... threatened to kill... unleashed Kyuubi... Shinigami... split soul and chakra... Kushina died... corpse in safe house...", was all Jiraiya could understand of the raspy answer he gained, always interrupted by bloody coughs.

"You made your child the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.", stated Sarutobi, his face and eyes hardening as he began to fully understand _what_ his successor had done.

"No!", Minato forcefully blurted out and raised his upper body, shocking the present people. "She... chakra holder... and h-... hero-... Konoha... Kakashi guard..."

"I understand. Don't worry, we'll take care of your daughter.", the Toad Sannin said reassuringly as he moved forward to take the little bundle from the arms of his student.

But his words didn't had the desired effect of calming the Namikaze in his last moments – instead he locked shocked and as his gaze wandered to his child pure horror was seen in his eyes. This sight caused the three other people present to feel dread crawl down their spines – something was terribly wrong, that much was obvious, but what?

"Sensei, w-", Kakashi wanted to ask but was interrupted.

Yanking his still leaned forward former master down to him with a bloody hand and impossible might, the blond seemed to gather his last strength as he spoke the words that should be his last.

"It had been t-", he started to say, only to clutch his chest as pain beyond anything he ever felt brought him down. "Find him!", the blond forced through his teeth as the light faded from his eyes. "He... must... nearby... must find... my... s-", was all the Yondaime managed to say before his whole being shivered one last time as the Shinigami, invisible to every living being besides his summoner and a few handpicked beings, approached him, his last breath faded from his lips and the light in his eyes finally vanished.

The 'Yellow Flash' and Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, Minato Namikaze was dead. He died a death worthy of any Kage – sacrificing his very life for the village he vowed to protect.

While the last of his students cried, the two men couldn't do so – they were saddened, but there was something that caused them to wonder – what was it, that their favorite male blond wanted to say? It seemed important – so important that even in his dying moments the Yondaime was worrying about it. What could it have been?

But as the little bundle stirred and forced their attention to shift they decided that it was for the best of all of them to worry about the tasks at hand – burying their leader and his wife, choosing a successor and, the top priority, deciding what to do with his daughter, already heir to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clan at such a young age.

After gathering a few trusted Anbu and transporting the dead body of the former Hokage out of the forest nobody casted a single glance back – so no one saw how the little snake transformed in a puff of smoke back into a fuming and at the same time saddened and thoughtful Orochimaru.

Staring at the bloody pools in front of him the Snake Sannin could only wonder, because the final words of his personal enemy stirred a thought in him.

_He seemed to miss something... But what could it have been? What was from such an utmost importance that he strained his body ev-_, was all he managed to think before he heard the small, even in the silcence that surrounded the clearing, almost inaudible whimper. Immediately his mind put two and two together as his eyes widened visible.

_No, not something – someone!_, was all he thought before he dashed off into the direction where the sound most likely came from. A silently flickering hope in his heart got new fire and he wouldn't waste a godsend gift.

Every new sound the obviously other newborn made allowed him to pinpoint the location – but as he arrived at the scene his heart nearly missed a beat. There lay, again only a small bundle but seemingly slightly bigger than that the Yondaime had carried, another baby Kushina had born – twins were born in this fateful night he realized – but what caused him horror was the poisonous cobra that slowly wrapped itself around the newborn, ready to strike.

Orochimaru hissed venomously and immediately got the attention of the snake. The animal may couldn't see him clearly but every sense it had told him that in front of it was its superior – so she retreated with a servile hiss of her own. The Snake Sannin sighed relieved.

With slow, still cautious steps he approached the bundle and picked it up as gently as he could. The nameless child was awake and eyes of an amazing blue locked with his own, slightly questioning. It was definitely a boy, that much was certain. To hell with all good reasoning, he definitely inherited the facial features of his mother and even with the eyes and hair of the Yondaime it still looked, Kami beware he would say it aloud, cute.

Yep, he, one thought to be the most cruel and evil man Konoha had ever seen was taking a liking to the boy, not in a pedophile manner some morons accused him to have of course. As the little child slowly extended its little hand, curiously pulled at Orochimaru's long black hair and smiled happily he couldn't help but chuckle.

_So much of his mother is in him... I can't believe this gift... Hm, how should I name him?_, the Sannin pondered. Staring down at the child he realized how surreal this whole situation was – and was granted the shock of his life as he got a closer look at the seal on the child's stomach. To not make the comfortable and tired looking kid fear him he tried to control his rage and slightly failed as a low growl escaped his lips but luckily went past the ears of the already sleeping blond.

_That bastard! Now I understand what he wanted to say._, Orochimaru raged in his mind, but made some wrong conclusions.

_To curse his own child with the soul of an ancient demon and people dare to call _me _insane? So his daughter got the chakra and was to be hailed as hero while the boy should be the scapegoat for the hate of the villagers. And I am _cruel_? He may weakened the beast, but how could he think thank that a newborn, armed with nothing but a seal is capable of fighting back the will of the soul of a hate filled chakra embodiment?_ This was the moment a horrible realization hit him like a freight train.

_This asshole, now I see his reasoning. He decided to sacrifice Kushina's son so that his daughter would have to never fear revenge on the demon. Oh no Minato, you made your calculation without me._

"Don't worry little one.", he spoke up reassuringly, even if his only listener was busy sleeping. He even had the perfect name for the child, to honor his mother and her origin. "You may be born in blood, but I swear on my honor as man and Sannin and on my love for Kushina that I'll never allow you to be harmed as long as I breathe. Hereby declare I, Orochimaru of the Sannin, that I'll protect you, Naruto Uzumaki, no matter the cost, no matter against whom for you shall be the son I never had."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading and I would appreciate your reviews. Remember, if there had been any mistakes tell me of them and I'll correct it as fast as I can.

Well, that was definitely an odd Orochimaru. I hope you can understand now why he is more gray in this story, but don't worry – more details of his past will still be revealed later and he will not become to soft – maybe he'll even become crueler because now he has a family to protect.

For those who want the sequel to 'Purpose' – good news! I can remember most of the stuff I've already written (as maybe already told my notebook was to bury after the accident and the last time I saved on my external is around one month ago...) and am currently re-typing the prologue and the first chapters with the help of my sister. But I'm sorry to say that I don't know when I can present it to you, because I still have plenty of plot bunnies that want out of my head. (Seriously, we edited the new prologue at least eight times... That makes me guess that I have to much free time.)

QW out.


	3. Chapter II: A Guarding Sister

**A/N:** Back on track! Goddammit I hate it to be prevented from writing by the usage of unnecessary force. To make this note as short as possible, I'll only say that I'm recovered enough to think straight again… oh, a butterfly! *insert random cough*

Anyway, today I proudly present you the third chapter of 'IHS' and I want to thank all of you for your support, be it by following, favoring or reviewing and of course your patience. It'll take a while before everything is back to how it was, but don't worry, with my sister it'll happen in due time. With this chapter the rating will finally be increased to M, just as mentioned/promised beforehand.

And I want to apologize to my reviewers. I really appreciate that you took your time to write something and I am sorry that I didn't find the time to answer them properly until now.

Harem is still under consideration, besides Tayuya and Kyuubi, so don't pose questions I can't answer. (One of my plot bunnies actually wants me to turn Hidan into a female, thus resulting in a more or less foulmouthed harem, I mean, why not? xD)

**Disclaimer:** I doubt you want to read that, so we'll skip that, because it's obvious. If I would own it, why the hell should I write fanfictions? If I have too much ideas than it would be Omake time!

**~~Scene Changes/Bigger Timeskips~~**

**"…Summon speaking…"**

* * *

**Infinite Heavenly Song  
**_Chapter II – A Guarding Sister_

* * *

For a few moments the Snake Sannin pondered on how he should plan his next actions, but he was distracted as little Naruto shifted in his sleep.

_As long as I am within Fire country and near Konoha there is no time to just stand by and think. It seems as if I have to improvise for now for there is no way that I would let Kushina's legacy be harmed._, Orochimaru thought. He casted one last glance back at his former home and the already dissipating clouds of black smoke from the havoc the Kyuubi had caused.

_I will return._, was his final oath as he turned on his heel and dashed off into the direction of Rice country.

Even if he wouldn't admit openly, the Snake Sannin was worried. He did not know whether his former master had sensed his presence or if he had finally understood the true meaning of the Yondaime's last words. Orochimaru hoped that this wasn't the case, he may was certain that he was stronger than any of the Shinobi, be they Anbu, black ops or whatever, Sarutobi would send after him, but every single second of a combat would put the peacefully sleeping newborn in his arms in grave danger – and he wouldn't let that happen, for he was a man who never broke the promises he made, especially when they had been made to the fallen ones.

But there were other odds on his route that could cause, related to the situation, minor or major problems. The journey back to his hideout was not only long, but he had to cross the border too, not to mention that his high-speed travelling could resolve in Naruto catching a cold because of the chilling autumn night and there was also the possibility of the blond getting hungry before he reached an at least somewhat safe location.

* * *

Only roughly five hours later, after a massive use of chakra to speed himself up, stood Orochimaru high upon a hill, watching how in the far east the first rays of sunlight fought against the darkness of night. Shifting his gaze to the still blissfully sleeping bundle he couldn't help but smile and sigh in eased contentment.

Okawa, a small town of farmers at the border to Rice country was only half a mile away from his current position. If everything from here on would go as smooth as it had until now then, so the Snake Sannin judged, he would be back at his base within the next two or three hours. But, first of all things he could do, Orochimaru would now organize something to eat for his 'son' and himself. Turning into the direction of Okawa he casted one last glance back at the rising morning sun, before he henged himself and Naruto into random civilians and took off into the distance. This was risky, but it had to be done – rumors would be useful and a campfire would be too easy to spot from even a large distance. There was no need to provoke something.

* * *

**~~In Okawa~~**

Oda Nabuwaga had maybe become old and was forced to retire roughly two decades ago, because of a heavy wound he had received in combat, from his position in the guard of the Fire Daimyo but neither his instincts nor his generosity had been dulled over the years. As Samurai of the old ways had chakra and Shinobi always been a foreign concept for him, but the very first moment the stranger appeared on his doorstep this morning, while he, like every morning, enjoyed the sunrise before he would start his daily routine, Oda did immediately knew that something was off with him.

It was as if his battle instincts kicked in, signalizing that this calm and harmless looking man was in truth a threat. Wondering whether his short, messy brown hair was some kind of disguise the old samurai tensed slightly as his gaze fall upon the little bundle in the arms of the stranger.

_A newborn?_, Oda wondered and eyed the man closely. Was it his own or did he stole it from his mother, maybe even killing the poor woman? His line of thoughts was disrupted as the man made a low bow.

"Please excuse me Sir, I am very sorry to impose on you but I could need your help.", stated the stranger.

_At least he is polite._, the old samurai thought. Weighing his options Oda finally came to a decision. "It depends on what you would need my help for, stranger. State your purpose and why you carry this newborn but nothing else with you.", he said firmly.

For a split second Orochimaru's posture stiffened but this was luckily unnoticed by the old man. "My wife – the mother of my son – died as she gave birth to him. I couldn't stand the sight of our home anymore and so I left in a rush, totally forgetting to carry something with me. But I can't even return home because last night the Kyuubi appeared and destroyed a large chunk of Konoha.", he answered and let the grief he felt because of the death of his only love take him over.

Oda was shocked at this, but did not believe the part with the Kyuubi. _To have been dealt such a hard hand by fate at such a young age, what a poor man._, he thought sadly and made his decision.

"I am sorry, I didn't intend to bring such dark memories back to you. Very well, in this case I will help you.", the old samurai declared and made a following motion as he went back into his house to wake his wife, whilst the Snake Sannin cursed himself mentally for mentioning the Kitsune.

* * *

**~~Meanwhile in Konoha~~**

The only outward sign of nervousness the newly reinstated Sandaime Hokage showed, was the constant chewing on his unlighted pipe as he sat in the council chambers and tried to find a way to bring up the most important topic of all – what truly happened to the Yondaime, the circumstances behind the defeat of the Kyuubi and the status of his daughter as the new Jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox.

So far he had managed to avoid the topic as he, the elders and the council dealt with the aftermath of the attack. But it seemed time was running out – the others present in this room were as tired as he and the rising morning sun could already be seen. Sarutobi still pondered on how to approach the topic, as the ever stoic Hiashi Hyuuga made his presence known.

"Hokage-sama, I suggest that now is the right time to speak about… certain things that happened this night, don't you think?" Thus were the words that put the people, most them already half-asleep, back on edge and their attention focused solely on their old and new leader, who shifted uncomfortable in his seat.

"What you all already know is that our beloved Yondaime died in the battle against the Kyuubi, while he managed to defeat him. However, this is not true, for no mortal can defeat the sentient mass of chakra that represents a tailed demon lord, a Bijuu.", Hiruzen explained and whispers started to erupt within the assembled crowd.

"Don't worry, we are forever safe from the beast. But to ensure our safety, Minato made another sacrifice, besides his own life."

Making an arranged sign, three masked individuals entered the room, followed by the remaining two members of the Sannin, Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya.

"What is the meaning of this, Hokage-sama?", barked no one else than Tsume Inuzuka, who was the first one to see the bundle the teary eyed Slug Princess carried gently.

Sighing quietly, the Sandaime steeled himself for the following discussion. _This is going to be troublesome._, he mused.

Shikaku sneezed and was so woken from his nap.

"As I said, the Yondaime was forced to make another sacrifice. But before I can tell more about that, I need to tell you of something else. I can assume that the woman under the moniker 'Red Death' is known by all of you, right?", asked the Hokage.

The assembled crowd was mostly confused because of the sudden change of topic, but nearly all of them nodded nonetheless.

"She was the wife of the Yondaime Hokage an- SILENCE!", bellowed the old man as the council erupted once again in murmurs and shouts.

"I personally married them in a secret ceremony and made this an S-Rank secret of the village. As all of you know ever since the Iwa-Konoha war both of them had countless enemies, so they decided to ensure the safety of their family. What I am about to tell you, will be labeled as village-wide SS-Rank secret with death as only penalty. Kushina Uzumaki had been the second Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the first was Mito Uzumaki. However, she was pregnant from Minato and considering this fact special preparations had been made by me, the Sannin and the Yondaime himself to make the birth as safe as possible, because of the pregnancy the seal that held the demon at bay was weakened. Unfortunately someone managed to infiltrate the sealed area and unleashed the fox. Kushina died in the process and the Yondaime whilst fighting against the beast, sealing it in his own daughter. That is all we know for now."

Shocked silence as the assembled elders tried to understand what they had heard. However, one of the elders saw his opportunity. "Lord Hokage, if I may suggest that I take her under my tutelage. Thanks to the ROOT program she will become the perfect wea-", was all Danzo managed to say, before he was confronted with the killing intent of six people.

"Don't you dare to finish that sentence!", Tsunade growled, clutching the bundle tightly and protectively to her oversized chest.

"When I might have appreciated that thought in another situation, we cannot do this Danzo. I have already decided what I will do regarding this situation; all that is needed is the council's approval. Nariko Uzumaki-Namikaze is already heir to the clans of her parents, therefore very important for the village itself, not to mention that she is the carrier of the Kyuubi. I will not allow you to turn her into a mindless and emotionless weapon.", the Hokage said and cleared his throat before he continued.

"As living representation of a part of village history itself, I will never allow anything that could harm the Yondaime's daughter to happen. She is destined to be great and rise above all of us because according to the prophecies of the toads is Nariko the Chosen One. As soon she reaches the proper age Tsunade, Jiraiya, the toads and I myself will train her. I intend to make her status and affiliation public, so that the village itself can protect her from any harm, be it a threat from Iwa or elsewhere.", declared the Sandaime, absolute resolute.

There was a moment of silence as the assembled clan-heads where shocked to their core.

"Well, so far this is understandable and acceptable, but what about the seal?", someone from the civilian part asked in an oddly calm voice.

"I examined the seal to its deepest details and there is only thing I can say. It is flawless, for it was crafted by the Shinigami himself. There is no possibility of the Kyuubi ever breaking out or tampering with her." With these simple words managed Jiraiya to wipe out the last bits of doubt from the minds of the councilmembers.

Sarutobi allowed them a moment to ponder about everything, before he voiced the question that would define the fate of more people than they could imagine now, not even in their wildest dreams.

"Now, to the voting. Who is for the announced course of action concerning the daughter of the Yondaime will raise his hand."

Only three people didn't raise their hands, two random civilians members and, of course, Danzo.

"It is decided then. From today on Nariko Uzumaki-Namikaze will start her path to greatness.", the Sandaime declared satisfied.

While the Sannin, the Yondaime's personal guard and Sarutobi sighed mentally because everything seemed all right for the moment, no one really noticed the scowl on the vanishings Danzo's face.

* * *

**~~Back at Okawa~~**

Orochimaru mentally sighed as he watched the wife of Oda cooing over little Naruto. The old man had introduced her as Misaki and obviously she was the typical grandmother typ. Her already white hair tied in a loose bun behind her head the woman was busy feeding little Naruto with some fresh and heated milk. Apparently the little boy had a large appetite and the Sannin just hoped it wouldn't increase to the size of his mothers.

His thoughts were disrupted as Oda placed a bowl of soup in front of him and took a seat at the table too. Thanking his host Orochimaru quickly performed an unnoticed diagnostic jutsu on the meal and dug hungrily in it as he couldn't detect anything that was even the slightest bit suspicious. For a moment there was nothing but silence, only broken by the sound of eating, before Oda lit a pipe and decided to speak again.

"You told me that you had left your home tonight. But to travel from Konoha to Okawa in such a short amount of time, could it perhaps be, by any chance, that you are one of these Shinobi?", the old samurai asked and the Snake Sannin nearly choked on his soup.

_Crap, crap, crap. What shall I tell him?_, raced through Orochimaru's brain.

"Well, I indeed was once a Shinobi of the Leaf. But I became sick of all the killing and retired. I then decided to open my own business and after a few years of hard but somewhat contempt work I met there my wife. But why do you ask?", inquired the Sannin and cursed himself for this being the best that came to his mind, putting his spoon aside and reading himself to lash out.

"Excuse my rudeness, I was just curios. Most of my life I have been a Samurai, so the concept of your arts had always been and will most likely stay foreign to me.", Oda answered and, unbeknownst to him, ensured so his survival.

The next minutes were spent in conformable silence, as no one bothered to speak about a new topic. But ultimately he had to leave, because he and Naruto weren't save until he reached his base. So he bid farewell to the old samurai Oda and his wife Misaki, who waved goodbye and asked him to return one day. Unfortunately, this was never going to happen for he was an S-Class criminal and did not have the time to do such things.

Besides, the road to home awaited him.

* * *

After the expected three hours and the unexpected easy crossing of the border he was finally back at his main hideout, only six miles away from the capital of Rice, the country that would soon be under his leadership by the name of Sound. A sinister chuckle escaped him. _Poor, poor delusional Daimyo._

Walking down the via Genjutsu hidden stairs like only the rightful owner of a place like this could manage to pull off, the two guards at the main gates immediately straightened their relaxed posture and went stiff like boards just because of the fear of upsetting the man that granted them a new live – a purpose.

"Welcome home Orochimaru-sama!", they greeted and bowed in unison. Deciding to forgive them their slacking at such an important position, at least this time because of more important and pressing matters at hand, he nodded his approval as the mighty wooden doors were pushed open for him.

The guards tried to pass a sneaking glance into the bundle in the arms of their superior and were slightly shocked as eyes of a shade of blue they had never seen before stared right back at them with the same amount of curiosity.

As soon as the gates closed audible behind the Snake Sannin he shut his eyes and forced his chakra out to pinpoint the location of Anko. A wicked and slightly maniac expression crossed his features, much to the amusement of little Naruto, as Orochimaru found her signature and a rapidly fading one in his private laboratories, where only he and she were allowed to enter. _Like father like daughter I guess. I am really proud of her._, the Sannin mused.

The moment he started to move into the direction of his personal quartiers he gave the blond in his arms one last look. "Time to meet your sister little one. I am sure that she will like you.", Orochimaru promised.

* * *

The purple-haired snake summoner was currently kneeling in front of her male test object, checking its pulse. As she found none Anko sighed in disappointment. _And again the circulation failed. Seriously, what's up with these people nowadays?_, she wondered.

The young woman snapped out of her musings as she heard footsteps behind her. Not bothering to check the intruder's signature to identify who exactly dared to disrupt her work in her father's laboratories she quickly rose from her crouching position over the corpse and grabbed a scalpel from the table where her poor victim was once restrained. Twirling the sharp object with rapid speed between her fingers she whirled around, her rage hidden by a way to sweet and innocent smile.

But all of her emotions and thoughts were null and void as she was greeted with the sight of her master and adoptive father, who smiled genuinely at her, his arms behind his back. Hiding the scalpel as fast as she could Anko smiled back. "Welcome back Tou-san!", the purple-haired woman exclaimed happily.

As the Sannin took in her bloodstained clothes, legs, arms and the droplets of the red liquid which adorned her face and hair, he couldn't help but sweatdrop. _Well, at least she is having fun._, was all he managed to think before he regained his composure.

"My, my, it seems you have been a bad, bad girl musume, haven't you?", Orochimaru said and chuckled as Anko pouted, but she straightened as her master turned serious.

"There is someone very important that I would like you to meet. I hope you will go along well."

With these words he produced the bundle with Naruto from behind his back and put him carefully in the arms of his adoptive daughter.

The young woman was at first curios who exactly this stranger might be, but was shocked as mysterious 'he' was in fact an infant. Sensing her insecurity the Snake Sannin added something.

"You know, this is Kushina's son. His name is Naruto. Say hello to your otouto."

These words broke the dam and, slightly understanding what had happened, the purple-haired woman finally looked down at the boy in her arms, who giggled happily. The very first moment she became aware of his amazing blue eyes, the fluffy mop of blond hair atop his head and the incredible cute whisker marks that adorned his cheeks, she couldn't help but fail at suppressing the girlish squeal of joy that escaped her.

"Kawaii!", exclaimed Anko and hugged the boy tightly to her already well-endowed chest.

And again the Sannin could only sweatdrop, especially as the boy didn't seem to mind the blood but to enjoy the treatment and attention he received. Naruto was definitely a bundle of energy, just like his mother – it seemed as if sleepless nights were bound to happen. Watching his daughter tickling the blonde Orochimaru let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

_Well, it seems I don't have to worry anymore about her eventually feeling abandoned._

* * *

**~~2 years later~~**

Biting back an angry hiss Anko towered defensively over her otouto, blood dripping from a deep cut in her cheek and some wounds on her left arm. Panting slightly she directed the whole of her killing intent on the last of her standing enemies, who backed away from the beyond enraged woman in fear.

But the retreat of the Shinobi was cut short as another figure emerged from the dark hallway and shot a hand out, glowing with chakra. The enemy went rigid as he felt the hand of someone else around his neck and tried to ignore the burning sensation he felt in that area.

"Why are you here? Who told you of this location? Whom are you working for?", the newly arrived medic asked, who was no one else than Kabuto.

The other man scoffed. "Rot away, snake scum."

That was his only answer, as he, seemingly in a last moment of heroism, tried to perform hand seals, keyword tried. Kabuto didn't hesitate and used his infamous chakra scalpels to behead the enemy, causing a fountain of blood to erupt from the stump.

"How nice of you to join the party Kabuto.", Anko spat, malice still rolling off of her.

The medic made an apologetic bow. "I am very sorry Anko-san, but I was intercepted on my way here. After I took care of the intruders I rushed to your location as fast as I could.", he exclaimed and after seeing her wounded figure fully, added, helpful as always, "Do you need treatment?", but she cut him short with a harsh motion of her hand.

"Orochimaru-sama is out and what happens? A large and seemingly planned assault on our main hideout. It seems they were here for Naruto. During our leader's absence are we in command. We must seek for possibly remaining enemies; start an interrogation to find the mole and repair the damages, not to mention that we have to tend to the injured. Kabuto, you will stay with me until I took care of my otouto.", the purple-haired Kunoichi declared, her words laced with authority.

"Hai!", was all Kabuto said, before he nudged one of the corpses with his foot. _Bastards, to go with the full force of four grown men on a young boy like Naruto-kun, for that I will ensure that they will pay._

As Anko kneeled down and turned around to face her beloved little blonde she couldn't help but think along the lines of the medic as she took in the fearful and frightened features of the Uzumaki, who clung onto a big white snake like other kids his age would with their cuddling blanket. Sending the slightly scarred animal, which was in truth a summon Anko gifted her otouto with on his first birthday and not just an more or less ordinary pet, a thankful glance the Mitarashi moved to embrace the blond but was beaten to the punch as she was tackle glomped by said boy.

"Nee-chan, you are hurt.", Naruto sobbed uncontrollably in her chest, making a mess out of her already bloodstained clothes as the live granting liquid mixed with the salty tears of the Uzumaki.

"It's okay Naruto, that are only scratches.", she said reassuringly and stroke his spiky hair with her right hand, as her other arm was simply in too much pain to do something else than embrace the boy, in an attempt to calm her otouto down. But it was to no avail, as the blonds sobs only increased.

"Don't lie to me Anko-nee. Those bad men hurt you just because of me.", he declared, feeling guilty.

Pulling out of the loving and protecting embrace, Naruto wiped his tears away and looked his sister straight in the eyes. Anko nearly gasped at the steel his teary eyes had become.

"Train me, make me stronger so I can protect you and Tou-san. Never again I want those I love to be hurt because of me, because I was too weak to protect myself.", the blond whispered into the darkness of the room. The two other occupants of the room felt a shudder crawl down their spines, as if they realized that this was a moment where fates were decided.

_It seemed there is more to this old saying than I thought. The hardest steel is really forged in the hottest fires. Very well, if he seriously wants to become stronger now than I am the last who would deny him this request. And I am certain that Oro-tou-san will appreciate it as well, as long he doesn't over exceed himself._, mused the purple-haired snake summoner, before she motioned her otouto to come closer.

"If this is your wish Naru-kun, than I will be more than happy and willing to help you. I promise it.", was all she needed to say as she hugged him again to make him thank her endlessly.

"Maybe I could help you too Naruto-kun, if you wish so of course.", added Kabuto, a small smile gracing his lips as he watched the one he considered in secret someone akin to a brother and his sometimes annoying friend being, despite all the circumstances, so at ease around each other.

_Like a real family._, was all he managed to think, before a blur raced to him, Anko grabbed air and he was tackle glomped by a happy Uzumaki.

* * *

**(Recommended/Inspired By: Mark Petrie – From Within)**

**~~3 years later~~**

Ignoring the not so silent screams of pain and cries for mercy of his unfortunate and restrained victim, a man who had annoyed him yesterday a little bit too much, Naruto tried to decipher the ancient book in front of him, but most sides had already crumbled to dust so it was, according to the blond, a 'pain in the ass'. Still, it needed to be done. The ritual the Uzumaki would perform was an old and forbidden technique, to call upon the god Jashin himself, at least according to the cult of Jashinism and the copy of their holy book he was currently reading.

Naruto's face, only lighted by the two candles on the altar where the book lay, creating a somewhat creepy atmosphere, looked much older than that of a five-year old, hardened due to the training he received and the things he had seen and experienced, not to mention done.

But despite feigning ignorance as much as he could the boy quickly grew fed up with the chained weakling of a man behind him and so he whirled around. "Would you just shut the fucking hell up, you little whiny bitch? Man the fuck up!", growled Naruto, baring slightly elongated canine teeth at his victim and leaking killing intent like there was no tomorrow. That shut the whimpering guy effectively up. Well, he had learned from the best – his big sister of course.

The created silence lasted several minutes and was only disrupted by the rustling of carefully turned old pages and the occasional sobs.

"Ah, there it is!", the blond exclaimed, as he finally found the passage he was looking for the entire time, the prayer that was needed to fulfill the ritual. But still, there was something odd with it.

_You have to be shittin me. Seriously, two fucking pages for a simple initiation?_, he thought in disbelief, but shrugged after a moment of pondering.

_Well, if that Jashin loves to be worshipped and I want to receive his blessing, I guess than I should pretend to do so. In the end, there is nothing I wouldn't do for Tou-san._, Naruto mused as he picked up the book and one of the candles.

Lighting the others he had placed around his sacrifice, the blond allowed himself a moment to admire his handiwork. The man, only 5'10" tall, was restrained at his ankles and arms, lying on his back in a cross-like position and the chains that forced him down were glued at the ground by the Uzumaki's chakra. His body fit perfectly in the symbol of Jashinism, the circle with the upside-down triangle in the middle, its edges touching the outer line of said circle, Naruto had drawn with the blood of his sacrifice.

He held the book firmly as he stood in front of the soon dead man and started to read the prayer aloud. "Oh Lord Jashin, harbinger of destruction, lover of war and bloodshed, I call upon thee…"

So the blond droned on and on, until he came to end of the second page, his right eyebrow still raised because of some things that had been mentioned on the two pages. Producing a heavy, wicked and curved blade out of seemingly nowhere, a mad gleam appeared in his eyes as he finished the prayer. The man could only shiver in fear, for he wasn't capable of anything more in the face of such… _terror_.

"Therefore I, thy future servant in this world, will sacrifice this life and soul solely for thee, to show thee the beginning of my everlasting loyalty to thee and only thee and to receive thy blessing."

The next things occurred in a rush. With a strength no five-year old boy should possess he had twirled the sword and trudged it in a downward arc straight through the chest of his victim, piercing the heart with a direct hit. The man's eyes went wide as the pain of death racked through his system, his body, simply his entire being, but the agony was short lived as the Uzumaki watched the life fading from the eyes of the man he had just sacrificed to a deity of which he didn't know whether it did even exist in the first place or not, the kill without even the slightest hint of remorse.

Naruto closed his eyes and tensed in anticipation – but nothing happened.

"The fuck?", growled the blond in confusion and annoyance after he had waited for several minutes and nothing ever happened, not even the slightest disturbance in the air.

"Well, here goes nothing.", he mumbled and snapped his fingers, calling into the darkness of the room. "Hey Orochi, your lunch has arrived.", Naruto said, as from the depths of his room a giant white snake emerged, easily around sixteen to seventeen feet in length and as wide as the thigh of a full grown and heavily muscled man.

"**Thank you very much Naruto-sssssan, I appreciate your offer."**, the summoned snake, that had accompanied the Uzumaki ever since it was given to him as guardian and friend at his first birthday by his sister Anko, hissed as the animal approached the blond who run a gentle hand above its scaled skin, before it moved to devour the Uzumaki's victim. He had named his animalistic guardian affectionately Orochi, the pun with his father fully intended.

Watching his friend swallowing the corpse the blond couldn't help but become hungry too, especially since he never bothered to eat breakfast today as he was set on way more important topics, considering the fact that today the Snake Sannin would need to take over a new body and the Uzumaki had again failed to do something more than provide his father with his blood witch increased the span of inhabitation to at least five years, rather than the former three. He was sad that he was obviously useless, but it made him furious at the same time.

His line of thoughts was disrupted as a purple-haired woman entered his chambers, even if bursting through the door would be a way better of describing her actions. Naruto gave his big sister a half-annoyed and half-amused glare.

"Nee-chan, this is my thirty-seventh door you have reduced to mere splinters. Seriously, give this poor workers a break and just knock like anybody else, would you?", the Uzumaki suggested.

"But Naru-chan, where is the fun in that?", she mock-whined, causing the blond's eyebrow to twitch and his snake to look oddly at its summoner. But Naruto's resistance crumbled as the Mitarashi used the two jutsu every female and child should know – the Chibi no Jutsu and, obviously as it was, the Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu.

_I must resist!_, he thought as he fought against the influencing, but with him being a male and the Mitarashi being, well, herself it was bound to fail. "Fine.", the Uzumaki sighed in defeat after a few more moments of struggling. "But I swear to whatever entity that bothers listening, if I wouldn't love you so much Anko-nee, then you would be in deep shit right now."

Before the blond could turn his back on the purple-haired woman she glomped him, lifted his body up with no visible effort and showed his face in between her well-endowed and not really clothed breasts. "Thank you, otouto.", she replied in a sing-sang voice, causing the snake to sweatdrop, or at least to do the animalistic equivalent of one. The Uzumaki's response was muffled as he was nearly suffocated.

Still, many males and of course the occasional female would trade their everything to change places with Naruto, even if they inevitable would be torn to shreds by a furious Snake Sannin, an even more enraged blond, a protective white summon and the sadistic woman herself.

As the blond's skin started to turn light blue Anko let finally go of her otouto, who breathed in relief, even if he somewhat enjoyed the special treatment he always received from his beloved sister.

"So, why are you here?", he asked, slightly swaying.

"Can't I come just to look for my little Naru-kun?", she teased, before her demeanor turned serious. "Oro-tou-san is about to take a new body and therefore we two are needed, besides I wanted to know how your experiment turned out. But judging by the lack of a corpse I suppose that it failed.", the snake mistress stated.

Naruto's saddening features were answer enough. "I know again I wasn't good enough to help Tou-san. It seems like I always fail.", the Uzumaki whispered as he turned around, not able to face the Mitarashi.

But he was only moping until he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder and Anko sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that this is no problem? For crying out loud, you are only five years old! Do you remember what I told you about my first experiments and how they turned out? And I was older than you as I started to really train. Seriously, you should stop being so hard with yourself.", she reassured him and managed to bring a small smile back on his lips, even if the doubt still lingered deep within his consciousness.

"Come on.", she smirked. "I bet you don't want to miss the show, right?", Anko said as she led him out of his room, the white snake hot on their heels.

* * *

"Hey Kabuto-nii, why am I not allowed to see Tou-san taking over this guy's body?", Naruto demanded to know as he sat in the medical office right beside Orochimaru's quartiers and was treated by the gray-haired medic.

"I believe he didn't want you to see that because there are certain things involving this process that aren't meant to be seen by your eyes for you are too young to need to cope with that.", Kabuto stated in a matter-of-fact tone as took a syringe full of blood from the blonde, who didn't even flinch the slightest at that.

_Even if I know that you have seen far worse than the transformation of Orochimaru-sama, you are still a child otouto. It is already bad enough that you are forced to mature faster than you should Naruto-kun._, the medic thought, a little bit saddened that this indeed promising boy never had nor would ever have a real childhood – but this world was cruel and considering who he was and what he held the Uzumaki needed to be prepared as best as they could help him to be.

What made him further angry on Konoha was that the boy didn't even had friends, only his family, composing of the Sannin, Anko and himself and the summon that accompanied him everywhere he went – all because of a burden that was placed on him five years ago by a man Kabuto and his master, not to mention the Mitarashi, despised like most likely no one else in this world.

"**I musssst sssside with Kabuto-ssssan, young masssster. You sssshould trusssst them on thissss matter."**, Orochi hissed. The animal was currently wrapping itself protective around the blond, using its tail to steady it, for it was longer than the blond was tall, as the snake rested his head atop Naruto's.

Muffled screams could be heard through the wall and after a massive quake-like trembling of the whole room and possibly a great part of the base the medic went to check on his master. The sounds could only indicate the end of the process for Kabuto was used to hear them.

"Don't worry, everyone will be alright. Just stay here and wait, would you?", the medic asked and smiled at the young boy who nodded hesitantly.

The Uzumaki sat also in bored silence in the room, his eyes roaming around in an attempt to find something interesting whilst his hands absentmindedly stroked the scaled skin of his companion.

_I don't like these hospital-like rooms. They are boring and to monotonous._, he decided after a while, but he could consider himself lucky as Anko chose exactly this moment to enter.

"Hey otouto, what do you say about us two going in the forest for a good old round of 'playing'?", she suggested and, whilst this may had earned nosebleeds from everyone else as her voice slipped accidentally to a more subtle and sultry tone, the Uzumaki merely looked thoughtful.

"But I wanted to train and read the book Kabuto gave me yesterday.", he complained, but it was to no avail as the mind of the purple-haired woman was already set.

"Oh come on, we both know it would be _fun_, besides you seriously should go out more and not just train your ass in the ground and stuff your head with every book you can get your hands on.", she stated and dragged the Uzumaki and his summon off.

* * *

The Mitarashi's definition of _fun_ was, given her most times sadistic demeanor, not one on might expect but people who did know her or at least her antics expected – so Naruto did know really well why he didn't want to _play_ with his big sister right now. The blond had felt her distress so he prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.

But he quite couldn't lose the foreboding feeling of dread, so the first thing he did as he arrived with Anko on a random clearing near their home was to hide him as she leapt in the trees. A wise decision, because only a few moments' later kunai and shuriken rained down on his previous position, some even had explosion notes attached to them. Of course they were not the real deal for the purple-haired woman didn't want to kill the Uzumaki, but the damage they dealt could at least break several bones.

"**You sssshould be on guard, Naruto-ssssan. Sssshe issss quite, for a lack of a better desssscription, **_**lively**_** today."**, Orochi hissed slightly nervous, wondering how the hell he should protect his charge when his own summoner was hell-bent on defeating the blond. Unfortunately was this a training session, therefore the snake wasn't allowed to interfere. Naruto could only nod in approval of this statement and whistle as he became aware of the damage – but only a heartbeat later the blond already had to dodge a giant fireball that came straight at him.

This was one of the times where he considered himself lucky to already have received training. Falling down and doing a quick role sideways he was merely capable of evading said katon jutsu and the very first moment he stand up Naruto was already forced to sidestep a new volley of weapons. He could swear that his clothes and hair were singed. The Uzumaki's eyes went wide as he heard the sizzling sound of a bomb – but the moment he registered it, it was already too late for him to react properly, all he could do was to raise his arms defensively – and the world went white as the blast engulfed his body.

The shockwave of the explosion blasted him straight into a tree. Naruto coughed a little bit blood up as he nearly felt his ribs breaking – if it hadn't been for his pain conditioning the fight would have been over before he even started. So the Uzumaki merely slid down the tree and tried to find his composure again, but it was to no avail as hot breath hit his neck and he felt someone directly behind him.

"Things like this are bound to happen if you just stand around to catch your breath, gaki.", the Mitarashi teased, but was forced to dodge as Naruto turned around and aimed a haymaker straight at her. The awkward bending of her body allowed the blond to kick her right for the shine, which caused the Mitarashi to nearly wince.

_Damn it, we shouldn't have given him these combat boots, nor should we have trained him so much. This was definitely not the kick of a five-year old boy._, she thought. It seemed as if he didn't want her to hold back – and she was all too happy to go nearly all out.

Answering with a kick straight for his ribcage Anko finally joined the fight fully. What followed was the possible oddest taijutsu battle that had ever been fought. Where the purple-haired woman was agile, fast and bending her body in ways that looked almost impossible to perform and extremely painful, aiming for every part of Naruto's body, the Uzumaki was strong, pain-conditioned and possessed stamina and speed to outrun ANBU.

While Anko used the dance-like style her master created and named Hebi, the blond didn't really use a style for he behaved more like a fortress – only moving when necessary, but then with a grace and speed that nearly rivaled that of his sister, for he tried to block and counter-attack every single moment of the battle.

But still, it didn't matter how long their fight waged on – the Mitarashi was still better in terms of fighting, stamina, knowledge and experience and so it happened what was bound to happen. Naruto's defense became sloppy and he was nailed with a vicious uppercut that sent him straight across the whole clearing. But even as blood dripped from his lips because he had bitten his tongue and the last hit busted his lips the Uzumaki couldn't help but grin like his big sister – the adrenalin of fighting was one of the few things he actually was addicted to.

"Okay, I have to admit that this was indeed fun.", Naruto chuckled as the panting Mitarashi's grin only stretched further.

"See? Told you it was needed.", she exclaimed cheerfully, but her demeanor turned serious as she noticed something she should have long ago, considering in what she was especially trained. Dashing at her otouto Anko tried to warn him as she saw the confused look on his face – but it was already too late as she recognized out of the corner of her eyes the two Fuma that were thrown her way.

"Take cover.", she shouted therefore and dodged the shuriken with relative ease given that she was still a bit exhausted – only to find that this had been a trap. Cursing herself as she was trapped in the wire that had been between the weapons the purple-haired woman tried to perform a substitution, only to find that someone was already invading her personal space and slapped something on her back. Still she finished the handseals as she couldn't hear any sizzling sound – only to become aware that it didn't work. Immediately her mind became aware of what must have had happened – a chakra suppression seal had been applied to her back.

This was the moment the person behind her erupted in full-blown laughter and four other figures leapt from the trees. "Anko-nee!", came the shocked shout of the Uzumaki.

"I will deal with the kid.", one of the men said and the Mitarashi actually wanted to puke as she became aware of their lecherous and lust-filled expressions. The Shinobi that had been behind her showed her forward, causing her trapped legs to give in and she to fall face first to the ground. Anko groaned at their laughter.

All of them were a bit taller than her she noted absentmindedly, as the Mitarashi noticed their slashed headbands, indicating that all of them were missing nins from Iwagakure. Giving the one that had attacked her a death glare the woman was distracted as Naruto cried, his voice indicating that he was in pain. "Let go of me you fucking asshole!"

Then there was a rather loud hiss and the man that had taken hold of the Uzumaki screamed in pain as Orochi lunged at him, unfortunately unpoisonous fangs sinking into flesh. "Take that thing away from me!", he screamed which gained the attention of the group.

Naruto tried to use that opening to attack the man his snake restrained with the kunai he always carried around as safety measure – only to be backhanded by the most muscled man of the group that had come to his comrade's aid. Lunging at the white animal he grabbed hold of the surprised Orochi and in a show of unbelievable power, ripped his head off and spraying himself with snake blood.

The blond cried as his friend actually really died and did not poof off like any ordinary summon. That was because his sister had decided in cooperation with Manda that one of his followers should permanently stay in the mortal realm so that Naruto would become more custom with snakes.

"What the hell do you want here?", Anko growled, even if her position wasn't really intimidating.

"Let go of the boy you sick bastards!", she demanded only a few heartbeats later as said teary-eyed Uzumaki was dragged to the group.

"Isn't it obvious what we want little beauty? We have been quite lonely the last months, you know? But I am sure you will enjoy it too – maybe.", said the tallest of them, who was obviously their leader as he stepped forward to touch her face – but the Mitarashi would have none of that and tried to bite his hand off the first moment he came into reach.

"Whoa, this is a feisty one. I think we will enjoy ourselves, right boys?", the unknown man said to his comrades and earned laughter, that only increased as they saw the purple-haired woman's struggling against the wire and the blond against the iron grip of his capturer.

"Now, what about this boy?", the missing nin pondered and there were a few moments of silence, only disrupted by the sounds of the two struggling.

"I said let him go if you only want me!", Anko declared through gritted teeth, causing the blond to tear up even more because of her determined declaration and his obvious weakness.

"How admirable, that you would go on such lengths for a child that is obviously not yours.", the leader said and took a thinking pose.

"Hey Imoru, doesn't he look like a little version of the damned Yondaime?", one of the men said, causing Naruto and the Mitarashi to gasp in shock as the leader pulled a bingo book out of one of his pockets, flipped through the pages and narrowed his eyes at the blond as he finally halted at one.

"Rai, take a look on this. I can't believe it, but Jin over there is right.", the leader, now identified as Imoru, said as he passed the book to another of the men. As he nodded his confirmation, all of them leveled a death glare at the sweating boy, who did already know of his heritage. Things had, even if none had thought that it was possible, obviously taken an even worse turn than expected.

"Break his neck Jin and be done with it. We still have the woman.", Rai said in a voice colder than ice.

"NO!", Anko's scream rang through the clearing, scaring the birds from the trees, but she still could hear the sound of bones breaking. She broke down sobbing, but still spitting curses at the missing nins.

She was ignored as they marveled at the thought to have finally been capable of taking revenge for the fallen – but because they had been away from Iwa for more than seven years, no one really thought about the circumstances behind the boy being in the land of Rice. "Men, we have fulfilled our promise to our comrades. Let's have some fun now and celebrate our late victory.", Imoru stated and his followers could only agree. One of them kicked the corpse of the Uzumaki away, the head rolling awkward on his shoulders.

_Oh god, I am so sorry otouto, if I wouldn't have failed to pay attention…_, Anko thought saddened beyond belief, she even had stopped struggling.

_It doesn't matter anymore…_, was all that came to her mind, even as the men closed in and made a great show of undressing the defenseless woman.

* * *

**~~Somewhere with Naruto in the middle of nowhere~~**

"Where am I?", the Uzumaki questioned as he realized that he still, well, existed, for he did remember quite lively that his neck was snapped. That was until a realization struck him. "Nee-chan!", he shouted as he bolted upright and his eyes snapped open – only to see nothing.

_Am I blind?_, was the first thing he could think of, for he couldn't feel something that would obscure his view.

"**No, you definitely aren't blind. I just don't feel like you are allowed to see me, mortal."**, a deep and rumbling voice answered, carrying a power in its words like he never encountered before.

"Who is there? Where are we? And what have you done to my nee-chan?", Naruto all but shouted, demanding answers from whomever dared to mess with his family.

A thunder like sound started to fill his surroundings, Naruto didn't even came close to realizing that he/she/it was chuckling, until the entity in front of the blond burst out laughing.

After a while the god, who was no one else than Jashin himself, in all his dangerous glory, recollected his composure and dignity. _**Oh my, such a strong will, a fire that outshines the flames of mere mortals. Truly, this boy is unique. It seems that the Uzumaki will never cease to amaze me. He is worrying more for someone else than himself. That would be an interesting one to watch.**_, he thought.

"**Boy, do you know where you are and whom you dare to speak unasked to?"**, the entity demanded to know and grinned as he saw the blond straightening himself.

"I don't care, but I still want to know what you have done to my sister you fucking asshole! And give me my eyesight back!", Naruto shouted back in the general direction of the voice.

"**You stand in front of a true god, Naruto Uzumaki. You are in the endless plains of black nothingness and wicked creatures that I call my empire."**, Jashin stated and marveled at the shock he could instate in the young child, but before said blond could retort, the god already continued his explanation.

"**However, there is no need to fear me. The moment you sacrificed something for me I started watching you – I wanted to know whether you would be worth my attention or not. Therefore you have now been brought before me, as I am about to fulfill my part of the contract we two made the moment you spilled blood in my name."** He chose this moment to close the distance between them by leaning forward on his throne.

"**Therefore I ask of you, little child of men: What is it that you want the most?"**

And the blond didn't fail to live up to the expectations of a god.

"I don't really know nor do I care right now. All I want to do is to save my sister.", the Uzumaki blurted out, satisfying Jashin.

"**Very well then, Naruto Uzumaki. I think I can lend you a hand in making this happen. Granted that you have done well in pleasing me so far, I shall allow a second time on earth and revive you were you died. However, you should beware for there is always the possibility of the Shinigami taking your soul away before it can reach my realm. If you want to become a true ollower of mine then you must seek out a man named Hidan. He is my most loyal follower and high-priest and will explain everything to you if you were to say the following thing to him, so listen closely mortal for I will not repeat myself."**

After Jashin ensured that he had the full, even if a little bit confused, attention of the boy, the god went on in his explanation.

"**There is no glory in death itself – only in the way you die. Now, be gone from my realm Naruto Uzumaki and save that precious sister of yours."**

Now all he had to do was to watch as the form of the child slowly faded away. Interesting it would be because Jashin had felt the doubt, the power hidden within him and the interest of the other gods in the boy as well. He chuckled. It seemed after his almost boring eternity was becoming a little, no scratch that, a lot more exciting.

* * *

**~~Somewhere around Kumo-gakure~~**

A man with silver hair, who wore a black cloak with red clouds on it and carried a red three-bladed scythe, sneezed suddenly.

"All hail to Jashin-sama!", he exclaimed happily and gained another annoyed sigh of his partner.

* * *

**~~The clearing near Orochimaru's hideout~~**

Anko was currently tied to a tree, restrained at ankles, hands and by two suppression seals after she nearly managed to reduce at least two of her would be rapists to ashes. Even if she was only wearing her panties and sported multiple bleeding cuts from the weapons the Shinobi had used to cut her revealing clothes apart, her rage couldn't be more alight.

"I will rip you all apart!", she snarled for the umpteenth time, causing her captors to laugh in amusement.

"As if. Just accept your fate.", Imoru said and made a great show of leaning forward, Kunai in hand.

"I want to see you sacred place.", he stated, voice filled with lust and eyes blazing with a hint of madness.

However, just before he could touch said place of a tensing Anko, the world went straight to hell. Unseen by all of the present, Naruto's body had lifted itself up like a puppet that had it strings cut and the wounds he had received closed themselves as something akin to black smoke raised from them, not even leaving the tiniest sign of a scar behind.

_**Do you want to kill those that harm your beloved sister?**_, he was asked by a disembodied voice.

_Yes, I will do everything to protect her, dattebayo!_, the Uzumaki answered to whomever, he began to become used to strange things happening to him. He could nearly feel the contentment of the speaker.

**Very well then, in this case I will gift you with something.**, the voice continued and Naruto felt an unbelievable power flooding his system, making him drunken and addicted at the same time.

Whatever it was, this was definitely something he could come to like, for it was, as strange as it may did sound, in an odd way soothing and comforting. However, he would dwell later about that – there were more important matters at hand. And slitted blood red eyes snapped open just before Imoru could touch Anko.

"**Freeze!"**, the demonized blond growled as a thick layer of blood red chakra seeped out of him and started to surround his body, killing every form of life it touched. The missing nin whirled around, the purple-haired woman behind them forgotten as they were hit head-on with the killing intent of an enraged demon, because Kyuubi himself had considered the blond worthy of wielding its power.

"W-what in the name of Kami is that? The boy was dead only moments ago!", Rai all but shouted, his voice loud and high-pitched.

Thus were also his last words, as only a heartbeat later Naruto tackled him down, the whisker marks on his cheeks more pronounced, his nails elongated and fingers turned to claws. The missing nin screamed in agony as he was burned alive by the corruptive and corrosive power of the nine-tailed fox. But this wasn't enough, no, not by a far stretch – and so the blond sunk his youki-surrounded claws in the eyes of the poor men. Rai's screams increased for a second as, literally, his eyes melted and brain was fried, only for him to fell forever silent moments afterward.

The silence that occupied the clearing after the gruesome death of the Iwa Shinobi was nearly as terrible as witnessing the mindless and feral attack. Even the hardened Anko felt chills go down her spine as her eyes locked for a single moment with those of her otouto, at least if he still was there behind the endless rage that shone from the demonic orbs. One of the missing nin choose exactly this moment to throw up – and he was the next to die.

With speed that outmatched any of the present Naruto throw himself at the man and rammed his hands straight in his abdomen. Twisting his claws deep in the flesh the Uzumaki watched with morbid fascination how the Shinobi coughed up blood – but he desired far more than that, he wanted to see them squirm, regretting the foolish decision to ever mess with his family.

Using his sharpened and hardened nails the blond ripped his hands free and sliced his targets belly open, the innards seeking their way to freedom. Number two from Iwa died with a very surprised look on his face, clasping his hands over the wound in a futile attempt of stopping them.

"Get him or he will kill us all!", the leader shouted, trying to sound confident but even he was shaking. This was so surreal it shouldn't even be happening in the first place for hells sake!

Jin and the other nin took their respective weapons, a katana and a simple kunai and charged forward. The demonized blonde met them halfway, jumping exactly through the high-aimed slash from left and low-aimed from right and used his momentum to smash the skulls of his enemies together. The breaking of bones was followed by another moment of silence.

"Fuck it, nothing in the whole world is worth this.", Imoru said exasperated to no one in particular, turned on his heel and started running away as fast as he could. He hoped that the _thing_, for a lack of better description, that had so easily dispatched his comrades would turn now on the woman first, considering that it wasn't worth to follow him. Unfortunately did every true predator enjoy the hunt of his prey.

And so his hope was cut short. Just before he reached the relative safety of the trees something swished through the air behind him. In the very first moment he heard it over the sound of his blood rushing through his ears Imoru's mind was about to wonder what could emit such noises – only to feel unbelievable pain racking his body for a split second – and then there to be nothing as his skull nearly exploded under the force of the katana that Naruto had thrown his way. Watching the last of his enemies fall down like a puppet without strings he turned satisfied to his wide-eyed sister.

Anko was frightened. The skill and brute strength that was used to literally crush her wannabe rapists was definitely _not human_. But how was this even possible? Orochimaru had said that her little brother's seal was designed to keep a soul and not power at bay. Had the Kyuubi perhaps taken over in the moment Naruto died? Did the Kitsune only spare her to went out his frustration solely on her or because she was absolutely no danger for him?

The Mitarashi closed her eyes as the demonized blonde halted in front of her, steeling herself for the worst possible outcome – imagine her surprise when she felt the wires around her loosening and the suppression seals being burned of her skin. It was an unpleasant and hurtful feeling, but still better as being totally defenseless. Anko decided to open her eyes again – and was greeted with the sight of her smiling otouto, the youki around him receding.

"I rescued you.", was all the blond could mumble before he succumbed to blissful unconsciousness, but not before thinking one last thought. _Thank you, whoever you are._

The answer would might had have surprised him – that was if he had been capable of hearing it. **For you anytime Naru-kun, anytime.**

Anko was barely capable of catching the collapsing Uzumaki. Placing him gently in her lap and still in shock not even bothering about obtaining clothes she couldn't help but feel a relieved smile spreading across her features, even if the future was becoming obviously even more complicated.

This was the sight a heavily bandaged Snake Sannin and nervous Kabuto arrived at – luckily they didn't found their worst expectations confirmed, but after a short explanation by the still slightly shocked Anko Orochimaru summed everything up in a very fitting sentence.

"This is so bloody troublesome.", he stated, his voice a bit muffled due to the bandages.

Somewhere far away on a mission a certain Nara sneezed.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, what do you think of the development so far? Personally I'm (again) not really satisfied, because I think there is still more to improve. Please tell me what you think of this chapter and feel free to point out errors you found so I can correct them and improve myself and my style of writing. Seriously, I hate mistakes when I write, even if I cannot fully prevent it from happening.

And to make it perfectly clear, no, Anko and Kabuto aren't a couple and will never become one in this fic. I also hope that the whole Naruto/Nariko issue starts to become a little bit clearer – unfortunately I can't say more or I will just spoil most of the plot and this is definitely not going to happen.

However, feel free to make suggestions regarding the harem (but no one from Konoha), maybe than I can finally solve this problem when one of my plot bunnies screams 'Hell yeah!'. But as I write this I already think that I have a very, very interesting idea with of course another more unusual pairing.

See ya,

QW

PS: Don't worry, I will not just time-skip everything, but I definitely suck at writing fillers.

PPS: Remember, be patient.


	4. Chapter III: Meet The Queen

**A/N:** Whoop! Another chapter is finally out. I know I had you waiting there but I did my best. Sadly life doesn't care much about me wanting to write or not. I hope the length of this chapter will somewhat make up for this. I also want wish all of you a merry Xmas and a good new year, since I won't manage to update before the end of 2012.

Here I want to thank all of you not only for your patience, but also for your support, be it via follow, like or review. And special thanks to Malisuco for his constructive critic - I am looking forward to your opinion on this chapter.

This chapter will (hopefully) give quite lot explanations. Maybe I should just stop throwing you for a loop. Anyway, I am currently thinking about rewriting a few parts of chapter two before I post a new chapter, so that a few things will become clearer in the beginning.

By the way, you can stop offering suggestions for the harem. Since this is my first non-OS romance fanfiction with multiple love interests in the focus I limited the harem to a total of four women - though, this number will never be reached at one time. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate them and they brought me good ideas. If I ever write a bigger harem then it will be in the far future and under considerations of these suggestions.

I also received my first flame - and it was totally pathetic. Seriously. But enough of that.

**Important note: This chapter will display very graphic descriptions of all-out torture - I highly advise those with a tender stomach and good imagination to skip that part.**

**Betaed by Narutopwnsass ****–**** thanks for the help pal!**

**Disclaimer:** Just the usual bullshit. I also wish to express that I don't support or encourage any kind of torture.

**Edit Note:** Fanfiction loves wrecking my editing - therefore thoughts are now represented by _'…__thinking__…'_.

* * *

**Infinite Heavenly Song  
**_Chapter III __–__ Meet the Queen_

* * *

**~~Naruto****'****s mindscape~~**

Kyuubi was looking down at the unconscious form of Naruto. Where on might would have expected a giant nine-tailed fox demon staring down at the more or less innocent blond, in whatever area that would fit the joined subconscious, would be very surprised if he could witness the current situation, the characters and the setting at a whole.

The somewhat imposing figure of the female redhead sported features which showed, even if her body may was basically human, that she was definitely not a normal woman. Especially the fox ears atop her head and the nine crimson tails behind her proved this, not to mention the red eyes with the slitted pupil, her more claw-like fingers and her teeth which looked more like vicious fangs.

However, it couldn't be denied that he humanoid form of the Kyuubi was the wet dream of any man with a healthy libido – with DD-cup breasts, a flat but toned stomach, a slim waist that led to freaking long legs and a beautiful formed behind. Clad in a tight kimono that hugged all of her curves nicely the redhead didn't even bother to hide her body. To be exact, she hadn't even expected to ever meet the one that hosted her. Now the vixen was caught in a predicament she wasn't even the slightest bit prepared for.

The last thing she remembered of that fateful night five years ago, after she was freed from her previous host by one of these blasted Uchiha - only to be forced into submission once more - was an endless, burning and unbelievable pain, as the little pest that was the Yondaime dared to summon the Shinigami himself in order to defeat her. The death god had wasted no time and ripped her soul along with her power from her body, only to separate both parts and seal them away in different hosts – Kyuubi still didn't know what happened to her body, but she assumed it was either destroyed or sealed away by the Shinigami.

At least she could somehow sense her power in a faraway distance, a circumstance that would have thrown her for loop if she hadn't already looked partially in the memories of her host. Considering her seal and condition she had never really bothered with her new host and slept the time away. However, a more or less funny circumstance was that the death god seemingly had forgotten that she was capable of regenerating every ounce of energy she ever lost or used - the reason for her slight tiredness and sleeping in the first place. This made her wonder – did the Shinigami may assume that she for whatever reason wouldn't try to break free or at least take control of her host? Eternity had seemingly a bad influence on someone's mind.

'_Now, what can I make of this?__'_ she wondered as the redhead frowned upon seeing the Uzumaki still unconscious.

It had happened by mere chance that she became aware of her host's presence in the part of the linked mindscape she had control of. This was actually the reason why the area around her resembled a very beautiful landscape, with forests as far as the eye could see, the occasional lake and stream and the mountains at the horizon, not to mention the house, even if cabin would be a better and more fitting description, she lived in.

The redhead had sensed Naruto's appearance like a disturbance in the air or a ripple on the else quite surface of a lake. Kyuubi knew, saddening as it was, that everything around her was only a figment of her imagination and she would most likely never see the places she had loved and inspired herself from ever again – but even if this knowledge was hurtful, especially for someone like her who was full of pride and valued their own freedom above all else, it didn't make the false reality around her less beautiful.

The vixen may not understand the full workings of the Shiki Fujin that had been used on her, but she was actually aware of most of the things it allowed – and an interaction between host and hosted was definitely not one of them. However, this was something to ponder about later.

Kyuubi was severely disappointed with the blond – his devotion to become stronger may was admirable and Naruto's outstanding desire to protect those close and precious to him was an honorable trait even among demons, because they rarely bonded, but all in all the boy was just plain pathetic.

He had been arrogant and paid the price for it – if Jashin, his foul aura she would recognize everywhere, hadn't intervened for whatever reason he had, the vixen would have vanished alongside her host, just because their souls had been bounded more or less together. The redhead shuddered at the mere thought of the dark god. Absentmindedly she reached up to touch the only scar she ever received, a present from Jashin himself that was situated on her neck and hidden by her crimson hair.

'_Just what exactly are you up to?__'_ she wondered, crushing the fear deep within her with visible effort. She took great pride in being undefeatable by humans and her likes, but this god - how he played with her and finally broke her was a completely different story and something she never enjoyed thinking about.

The only good thing that had come out of the previous happenings was that for the few moments of the Uzumaki's death the seal that held her at bay had weakened. How much so she couldn't tell, at least for the moment. Subtle experiments were obviously in order.

Kyuubi still felt a little bit sick too her stomach because she had to feign so much sweetness, but what other options did she have in her attempt to gain the trust of that boy? Seduction was out of the question, at least for now. That brought her to another problem. He better kept himself in shape – if she was forced to be stuck with him for who knows how long then at least he should provide appropriate entertainment if a certain itch needed scratching.

The redhead shook her head, clearing her mind of distracting thoughts – after all, she had an important matter to focus on. This brought her back to one of the things she couldn't quite shake off – it may seemed a bit farfetched in the moment but if her memory served her well then she had to admit that this brat in front of her looked like a mini-version of the damned Fourth Hokage.

Crouching low she examined the Uzumaki's features. If Kyuubi remembered right, then her first and second host had been from the Uzumaki clan as well. Truly, this couldn't be a coincidence. Perhaps they were somehow related – a little bit research was seemingly in order, because if her suspicions were right, then she had something more in her hands to take control of her host. Oh how sweet this would make her revenge.

Standing up, the vixen seemed somewhat satisfied. All that was left for now, at least until Naruto would wake up, was to look into the memories of the boy to confirm her considerations.

* * *

**~~In Jashin****'****s empire~~**

The self-proclaimed god of war was currently busy with emptying a giant bottle of strange red liquor – blood. A cloaked figure stood in front of him and his throne, the head tilted to the side in confusion and something akin to disbelief.

"Are you alright, master?" the person asked, the worry of both a servant and comrade in her voice. Throwing the bottle aside without even a second glance, Jashin coughed once before he voiced his answer.

"**Of course am I. There was just a need to get rid of this sickening sweetness I used to lure this delusional boy.****"**

The god's voice was back to its normal deep rumbling sound with malice and the promise of instant death combined with unbelievable power dripping of every syllable. The figure nodded her head in acceptance, unfazed by the god's attire and behavior.

"But still master, there is something I don't really understand. Without wanting to be rude or doubting your judgment – why exactly did you choose to support this boy in the first place? I have to admit that I sensed a great evil from him, but that was it. Why do you care about a weak human child?"

For a few moments Jashin pondered on whether he should inform his subordinate and comrade of his plans or rather not. Having come to a decision, he voiced his answer.

"**Very well, I will fill you in of what I have planned, but just because it is you, old friend.****"** the dark deity stated and gained the full attention of the cloaked person.

"**But at first, I have to correct you on a few things. I do neither really care about the boy nor is he the source of the ****'****great evil****'**** you mentioned.****"** Jashin explained, making quotation marks.

This threw the one in front of him for a loop.

"**I know you are confused, but take a moment and think about it. How did this power you sensed feel?****"** the god of war intrigued.

Adopting a thinking pose the figure started to ponder about the topic. It was no trick question that much was sure considering who asked the question in the first place. The power had been downright evil, with a definite demonic tint, spoke of rage, wisdom and experience, but there had been more to it than just this – alone being in its presence brought a familiar sensation back to the cloaked person. But the person couldn't for the life of her figure it out and put the feeling in its place, the sensation had been a mix of being scorched and – the figure's eyes widened beneath the shadows of the hood in recognition and understanding.

"**Ah, it seems you have come to a conclusion.****"** Jashin said chuckling, an amused expression on his usually cruel and grim features.

"I can't believe it! The great Kyuubi no Kitsune is sealed within such a weak child of men? How could that even happen?" the cloak carrier asked in disbelief.

"**Hmph, you are seriously giving someone like her too much credit.****"** the deity stated, missing the scowl that crossed the features of his comrade.

"**But your assumption is correct. She is actually the main reason why I even bothered talking and considered supporting this brat. I haven****'****t and will never ever forget the betrayal of my sex toy. Once she was nothing more than a mere slave bound to the biding of the other gods and I gave her a true purpose, but instead of being grateful, she ran away ****–**** and now is the right time to claim once more what was mine from the very beginning.****"** Jashin said, fully believing what he had just stated, madness shining in his eyes.

At this, the cloaked figure clenched her hands so hard that the knuckles turned white. Again this went unnoticed by the god of war, who was busy with his daydreams of enslaving the vixen, among other things he would do to her and everyone else who dared or would dare to help her and stand in his way. There was no escaping fate and those who stood above it, namely gods and especially him. Little did Jashin know that it was exactly this arrogance that would be the cause of his downfall in the already near future.

"**Besides, it would be a nice bonus if I manage to corrupt this delusional child Kami and Yami have taken for whatever reason an unusually high interest in. Maybe I really should watch the actual happenings on earth more. However, this way I could carry out my revenge on them for banning me here at least partially. It is still quite infuriating that I am bound to this place and can****'****t really influence something or someone at all. But soon, very soon, this will change.****"** the deity explained, a wicked grin on his features.

'_Oh yes, you have absolutely _no_ idea what will change, _dear_ friend.__'_ the figure all but growled mentally, whilst struggling to regain her outer composure.

"That sounds good, master. But what has a simple human to do with your revenge? I don't really see what you are hinting at. With Kyuubi inside him he could maybe become a mortal force to be reckoned with, but that is all." the cloak carrier intrigued, a little bit more calm than moments prior.

The grin on the god's face widened to painful dimensions at his words.

"**You just need to remember the Mad Kage of Uzu, Tenjin Uzumaki. He was one of my best and very first followers. Under him my cult, the Jashinism, had spread far across the Elemental Nations and I assume it even reached the lands in the west. That reminds me, I should investigate about what is happening there. As soon as we are finished here I assign you to this. I may am not allowed to interfere with mortals aside from those who wisely chose to side with me, but since the little brat had already made a contract with me; he has automatically been branded with my mark. Hidan will recognize it and if he manages to bring the boy to follow me, then I can shape him into my loyal weapon. Then he can cause a war great enough to gain the attention of Kami, Yami and the others ****–**** as soon as this happens, I will use all my stored power to break out of this realm when all of them are focused on keeping their so called ****'****Chosen One****'****s****'**** alive. With you and my army at my disposal I will destroy the very place these bitches and traitors cherish and created. Once more I will try to shape this pathetic world after my image and this time I will succeed.****"** the god explained, telling the one who was in truth one of his biggest enemies everything about his evil plans.

"I understand. Truly, this plan is bound to succeed. I will take my leave then. A report is to be expected within one week's time. Farewell, master." the person stated obeying and turned around, the frame already shimmering. As Jashin was busy dreaming of all the things he would do as soon as he could roam free again he didn't see how the eyes of his most 'loyal' subordinate, comrade and friend flashed white in nothing but rage just before the cloak carrier vanished completely.

* * *

**~~In Orochimaru****'****s private quartiers~~**

The constant, almost hypnotically rhythmic, noises of the machines one would normally expect in only an upper-class hospital did very little to soothe the Snake Sannin's nerves. With a defeated sigh he turned away from his desk, which was littered with papers of all kind, ranging from simple notes up to complex research information and results of advanced analyses. Laying eyes upon the figure that was hooked up to the seemingly countless machines, Orochimaru felt as if he had failed.

Taking tentative steps up to the bed where the one he considered a son rested, the Snake Sannin knew that he should have done something to prevent such a thing from happening in the very beginning. A slight frown crossed his features. Still, even with the knowledge he had now there was nothing he could have had done, because of especially these results of his researches. There was no way to train someone under the age of five without risking various problems later, for example a lack of height or the long-term damages of the chakra paths, because until the age of five, six or sometimes even seven the network was neither properly nor fully adjusted.

'_But under the light of such events, can I really allow such things to be repeated? I am the very one who discovered this important phenomenon. I know it isn__'__t the wisest decision, but physical training, theoretical lessons, mental and pain conditioning aren__'__t__sufficient anymore. Truly, I hope that the consequences won__'__t be too grave and Kushina isn__'__t going to kill me in the afterlife, but I have to do this. There is no way that I could allow harm to come to Naruto once more - one time was already way too much.__'_ Orochimaru mused.

Showing his softer side for a moment he ruffled the spiky mob of blond that was the Uzumaki's hair.

'_Truly, you are a quite a wonder yourself. There is no denying the massive spike of demonic youki, but what happened afterwards to you, dear son? How came you back from the dead in the first place? Anko said she clearly heard the bones of your neck snapping, there was no way that you could have survived something like this. Still, I am grateful that you managed to get somehow, miraculously as it is, out of this bloody mess physically unharmed. Oh, if you could just wake up and prove that you are mentally well too. It would relieve me greatly.__'_ the Snake Sannin thought, his eyes adopting a faraway look.

The Mitarashi choose exactly this moment to enter the room after an nearly silent knock on the door.

"How is he?" she almost whispered her question.

Once more over the course of the last minutes Orochimaru was about to sigh, but restrained himself from doing so and instead gave his daughter an intense once-over. To be truthful, ever since the 'incident' with the shinobi from Iwa and the Kyuubi, Anko had been shaken right down to her core and became very sensitive about the topic of her little brother. She had actually beaten one of the older and more experienced shinobi under his command to the brink of death just because he had said something negative about the Uzumaki - if Kabuto hadn't been there to restrain her the man would have been dead instead of being gravely hurt on the brink of death, the Snake Sannin doubted this not a single second.

"You can speak a little bit louder Anko, you aren't going to hurt him just because you are talking." the pale man stated and the purple-haired woman flinched at that.

"I have to admit, infuriating as it is, that I have little to no idea how you feel musume. But I can assure you that he is okay for the moment, his condition may hadn't change the last days but at least he is stable and out of danger. As soon as he wakes up I will send for you, don't worry. Then we will take care of training him properly, consequences be damned, as a father I can't allow to let my child come to harm just because I hesitated. Be ready for it, we will have to plan this deeply." Orochimaru declared with confidence, before he realized that he had just called himself the blonde's father and a small smile spread for a single moment across his lips.

The training aspect he had mentioned earned him a disbelieving look from the purple-haired woman. Pulling a not so small book from one of her trench coat's pockets Anko practically shoved it in the Sannin's face. Orochimaru only wondered what that meant until he read the title - _'__The truth about the chakra system and its paths - results of a long-term study by O. C. Maru__'_. The Snake Sannin sighed mentally, steeling himself for what was about to come.

"Are you fucking shitting me?" Anko all but hissed, waving the book in front of his face.

"Here you stand, one of the greatest men to ever live, my sensei and my father and you are actually renouncing yourself? What the fuck is wrong with you? All these years of research and experiments, all those countless sleepless nights - are you saying that everything you have done to accomplish this was worthless? That everything you created has no meaning at all? Get a hold of yourself, dammit!" she ranted, finally taking a breath.

"Anko." the Snake Sannin said, his voice neither really changed nor raised - but something in his tone cut so deep like a knife and the woman stopped, her mouth already forming the next part of her mini-rant.

"I am dissatisfied with your image of me, daughter." the pale man said in a monotone voice and Anko backed slightly away, as if she had been slapped.

"But I see and understand your point. I am truly grateful that you care that much about Naruto to even defy me. Still, you need to remember that I hold him as dear as I do you, not forgetting to mention that I owe his mother very much - there is no way in hell that I would allow harm to come to him once more. This time alone was already two times too much." Orochimaru declared, his voice turning beyond enraged at the end and pure rage, mad fury and hate clearly visible on his features.

Killer Intent blasted across the room, startling the Snake Mistress and scaring the shit out of every form of living that was even the slightest bit close to Orochimaru's private accommodations. Even the unconscious Uzumaki was slightly affected by the massive force - but he had another _problem_ to worry about - so in the end nothing really happened to the boy.

"I will never forget this atrocity that was committed by grown men against an innocent child. I had absolutely nothing against Iwa, given that the attack three years before was planned and executed by one of my own that thought he could overthrow me in my absence - but now the Stone overstepped a line that never should have been crossed. As I promised Naruto Konoha will fall for what they have done - it will be my vengeance and by extension his. But now, under these new circumstances, I will destroy Iwa as well. I can't let such a threat exist - in the end I will bring the whole Elemental Nations to their knees if this ensures the safety of my kin, even if I would have to sacrifice myself for such a feat. A debt to the death has to be fulfilled and in order to save one life I am more than ready to give countless others up. They will pay, dearly." the Snake Sannin nothing short from seethed, ready to lash out at a moments notice against everything that came even remotely close to a danger for his family.

"I have an idea how to accomplish this, but to come through it would need even more sacrifices from you two, my family and I am certain that I couldn't see one of you suffer only a single second. Still, what can I do, what choices do we have? As long as the Leaf exists we will always be on the run, we will always have to stay on guard - this isn't the life I have seen for you Anko, neither you nor your little brother should be forced to live that way." the pale man growled, unconsciously clenching and unclenching his hands, only hardly keeping himself from finally losing it - alone thinking about such things brought him on edge.

Orochimaru throw a single frustrated punch sideways against the wall - only to have it nearly collapse, shaking violently and countless cracks running away from the impressive dent his fist had made. It wasn't the pain that brought him at least somewhat down - but the shocked expression on the face of the Mitarashi and the scared glance she had thrown at the blond. Shaking splinters and dust from his hand the Snake Sannin took deep calming breaths, forcing his mind onto other topics.

Slowly but surely silence took control of the scene - he was still trying to calm himself down and Anko was lost in her memories, because the words of her father had stirred something within her and now she remembered those fateful days after Orochimaru's return and the first, luckily failed, assassination attempt against the Uzumaki.

* * *

**~~Flashback, 3 years ago~~**

The Snake Sannin allowed himself a moment to enjoy the sunset from the top of a hill, one of the entrances to his main base only a few meters away, hidden in the forest that surrounded the hill. He had chosen this place not only for its strategic importance, but also because he personally admired the unfolding scene - such things were rare nowadays and he also wanted to give the men and women under his command a place to relax, outside of the base but still close enough in the case of an emergency.

So far his trip had been successful - the Daimyo of Rice had been delusional as always, believing every single word he said and allowing Orochimaru more freedom and rights in the country. Using this to his advantage he had started to move people whose loyalty lay with him in positions where they would not only gather further and more information for him, but they would also start to slowly prepare the coup d'état he planned since a long time.

An aura of contempt and fulfillment surrounded him, as he descended the moss-covered steps. However, the sight that greeted him created a faint sense of foreboding - where once only two guards stood where now six and all of them at alert, shown by the weapons that were already drawn as he closed in on them.

"What is the meaning of this?" he intrigued, curiosity and anger equally in his voice as they blocked his path. How dare they stood in the way of their superior, the man that gave them a purpose!

"We are sorry Orochimaru-sama, but by orders of Mitarashi-sama we are to inform her before anyone is allowed into the base - even you, because we are currently in lock-down. Taro, inform her of the arrival." one of them stated whilst bowing and another member of the group left in a Shunshin.

The few moments until the arrival of Anko were not only awkward, but also very tense as the Snake Sannin's patience was wearing thin. As soon as he started tapping his foot impatiently the men around him grew even more nervous - still they stood firm, weapons always present and at the ready. But as long as he didn't move he couldn't set them off - and if they insisted on having his daughter check his signature then so be it. He just hoped for them that they had some pretty good answers for all of this.

As soon as the Mitarashi arrived she was almost literally nailed with the hardened gaze of her father. Despite the unease she felt about the whole situation, the woman met the eyes of the Sannin head-on, not intended to show any sign of weakness. Taking a few seconds to examine the so well-know signature of the pale man in front of her to the very depths she finally nodded her confirmation.

"It is him." she stated unnecessarily.

At once, all of the guards bowed and welcomed him, their leader, home. He dismissed it with a single motion of his hand - Orochimaru wanted answers and that now.

"Would you kindly explain what the meaning of all this is?" he intrigued, almost hissing.

Anko walked up to him, an unreadable expression on her face. Taking hold of his arm, the Mitarashi had only two simple words as answer for him. "Not here." That been said, the two vanished in a Shunshin.

* * *

"I am about to lose my patience here, Anko. I will not repeat myself once more - what is the meaning of this?" the Snake Sannin asked, finally growing fed up as he and his daughter appeared in his private accommodations and he still hadn't received an answer.

The purple-haired woman actually winced under his harsh tone and eyes. The pale man nearly regretted his behavior at the hurt look of the Mitarashi, but he had to uphold his attitude - there was no way that he could just let something of this caliber slide.

"It is going to be a long story, father. Please take a seat. I will explain everything as soon as Kabuto arrives." she stated, a little bit fear creeping into her voice. Orochimaru almost hated himself in that moment, he couldn't stand those few close and precious him to suffer in any way, especially if he was the cause of it.

'_Wait, why do we need to wait for my medic?'_ he wondered, only to come to a terrific conclusion and tense. _'Oh no, don't tell me that something happened to Na-'_

His thoughts were cut short as the gray-haired youth stepped out of the door to his sleeping room, sweating a bit and with bags under his eyes. Realizing the worse state Kabuto was in, Orochimaru looked to the young woman - only to almost freeze in shock. Anko had seated herself in a chair and was seemingly on the verge of passing out, her pupil-less eyes rimmed by the black linings of countless sleepless nights, fatigue etched in her features and under her slightly torn trench coat the Sannin could spot dried blood.

He, berating himself for not noticing this earlier, was already halfway out of his seat as the Mitarashi merely raised her hand - still, he halted his actions.

"I am fine, tou-san. Seriously, I just… need… to… catch… some… sleep." was all she said, before the purple-haired woman was off to dreamland as her exhaustion finally caught up to her. Orochimaru's gaze softened at that sight.

"Wait here Kabuto-kun, would you? There are still things I want to know." he said as he picked his daugther in bridal style up and was about to carry her in his own bed - the Sannin doubted that he would come to use it anytime soon anyway.

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto replied before taking a seat, watching his master's back disappear behind the door and waiting for his return.

'_There will be much blood, that is for sure.'_ was all the medic thought, as he heard the Snake Sannin's enraged roar - without doubt he had just discovered her wounds and the under sedatives sleeping Uzumaki.

The blond may had survived the assault unharmed, but as he and Anko discovered the traitor, who was the twin of one of the attackers, Naruto had something akin to a trauma. From that moment on he would cling to the Mitarashi as if she was the only thing that kept him from falling apart - not even the presence of Orochi had managed to calm him down. Finally, for the sake of his own health and in order to take proper care of the mole they were forced to knock him out and put him under the influence of the medicaments - everything else had proven useless.

* * *

The Mitarashi awoke roughly thirty hours later - she had already waken up two hours after going to sleep and as she set off to find her father she found him torturing the traitor and, not being allowed to enter she had to wait until he finished his little torture session, before the Sannin forced her to rest again - to the pleasant feeling of something small and warm being cuddled up to her. Pupil-less eyes fluttered open, their sight bleary and blinded by the artificial light of the lamps. Adjusting to the brightness, Anko looked down, only to find a familiar mob of spiky and blond hair, the head it belonged to resting on her still cloth-covered breasts. In her sleepy state she merely raised an eyebrow and gave Naruto a more or less confused glance.

Despite the circumstances she was glad that the Uzumaki was seemingly well, so at ease and could finally sleep peacefully. Yawning, she could only wonder.

'_Am I that comfy for him?'_

Shrugging, it wasn't like she was a pedophile, the blond was way to young to ever be considered more than a little brother by her, the purple-haired woman carefully raised her body, intended to not wake the boy. Even if she enjoyed Naruto's presence it was not meant that way - then things would have been different from the beginning. But she could very well get some fun from teasing the hell out of him.

Anko giggled at that, she would make his puberty worse than hell, just for the fun of it and seeing her favorite blond embarrassed. The still sleeping Uzumaki shivered, as if he just had have the feeling of impending doom. After pulling the covers over her little brother the Mitarashi yawned once more and stretched, before her eyes spotted something white in the corner of the room - Orochi. The snake and its mistress exchanged glances for a few seconds.

"Morning Orochi. Thanks for your help, by the way." Anko said, rubbing her still a little bit sore shoulders.

"**Good morning to you too, Mitarasssshi-ssssama. It wassss a pleassssure to help you out. I hope Uzumaki-ssssama will be well ssssoon."** the summon hissed its answer.

"I hope so as well." she mumbled as response, almost inaudible.

"Listen, I have to search for Oro-tou-san. Could you please look a few moments over him, at least until I return?" the young woman requested and as the snake nodded and slithered its way to the bed, she sighed in approval and left.

The Snake Sannin's first student found her master already outside the bedroom, seemingly waiting for her to get up. Orochimaru had, sitting at his desk, been busy with re-reading what his daughter, Kabuto and he himself had gotten out of the few ambushers that had survived their combined fury, but as soon as the woman had closed the doors behind her she got his full and undivided attention, the notes for the moment forgotten. Giving her a once-over, he was satisfied that she looked at least a little bit better than before.

"How do you feel, musume?" Orochimaru questioned, his hands and fingers intertwined.

"I am fine for the moment, maybe a little bit sore, thanks. The sleep was really needed. I could use something to eat right now, but that is it." Anko replied casually, shrugging a bit.

The Snake Sannin merely pointed to a plate with dango - the eyes of the purple-haired woman lit up with joy at the sight of her favorite food. With speed rivaling the Flying Thunder God she sat at the desk and started to wolf down the dango. Orochimaru watched her behavior with an amused expression and a small chuckle. However, the moment she finished eating and patted her belly in satisfaction he turned businesslike. Noticing the subtle shift next to her, the Mitarashi turned to face her father, eager to know what would happen from now on.

"I have finished thinking about the training regimen Naruto will go through over the next years and who will be the one teaching him in the different areas. Of course, everything will be under the consideration of the results of my experiments." he stated, pointing at one of the papers that stood out from the other notes, because it was flooded with neat handwriting and differently colored annotations.

The purple-haired woman knew that he referred to one of the few books he had written and published under the pseudonym of O. C. Maru. But before Anko could reach for the scheme the Snake Sannin raised a hand, halting her motions and continued explaining.

"There is more to this than it seems at first moments notice. I have something special planned for today with Naruto. There is only one survivor left - Tetsu. I want the boy to kill him personally, if needed with your help." the Sannin stated with a serious tone and expression that left no room for arguments.

Silence, complete and utter silence followed his words, as the Snake Mistress gasped in shock, but before she could even think of an appropriate retort considering the blonds' behavior after he first looked at the man and realized who he was and what connection he had to the ones that would have killed him if it weren't for a certain snake, medic and herself, her father already beat her to it.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I am certain that the benefits of this action greatly outweighs possible risks. I have spent many hours merely thinking about this topic and this is the conclusion I have come to and will stay with."

Still, the look of utter disbelief didn't want to vanish from Anko's face.

"I thought you had killed him. But well, if you say so, then I will trust you on this. After all, you have more experience than I do." the Mitarashi answered finally, raising herself from the desk to wake the Uzumaki, but in her voice was a not really subtle threat. This caused the Snake Sannin to smile at her retreating back.

'_Their bond is strong, very strong. This indeed a promising and reassuring sign. Those that will ever evoke her wrath are truly poor souls, even if it is their own fault.'_ was all he mused.

* * *

The group of two walked down a dimly lit corridor, the shorter one staying close to the taller one. As the mighty door closed audible behind them, Naruto involuntarily twitched. He had only been two times to this place and every time it managed to set him off - even more so now that Orochimaru wasn't with them. It wasn't that he doubted the power of his big sister, it was more of a moral fact.

Squeaks echoed around, without doubt from the countless rats that lived here, as they were disturbed in their busy working by the two humans. Anko didn't even bother to look into the simple one-man prison cells - she knew exactly what she would found there. Rotting corpses, piles of bones and oceans of dried blood. Sometimes she was glad that they had left the rats down here alive - there was nothing better than to torture someone than locking him up in a way too small cell, chaining him to the wall with old and rusty iron chains and then leave him to his own devices in a never-ending darkness, with the knowledge that there were animals around - and they were hungry.

There was light, yes, but only when Orochimaru, the Mitarashi or the prison officer went down the corridor, looking for the remnants of those who evoked their darkest wrath or simply giving them the minimal food they needed to sustain their existence. The rats hushing around in the darkness of every cell, the constant dripping of leaking pipes didn't really help the caged either. Most had gone mad in less than a week, because for all intents and purposes this resembled a sewer not without reason. Here those who committed the unforgivable crimes were buried - in the most literal sense of the words, because no one ever left this place, not even his bones.

Finally mustering the courage to voice his questions, the young blond tugged at the sleeve of his sister's trench coat.

"Nee-chan, what are we doing here? Have I made you mad?" he intrigued, his voice echoing down the empty corridor, a little bit fear in it as well as he tried to sum up all of his courage.

"No, don't worry Naruto-kun, that isn't the case. We are merely here to do something, or to be exact, I am here to escort you to do something." the purple-haired woman answered, still pissed at Orochimaru to order something like this.

Still, her words reassured the blond that he hadn't done something to annoy his beloved little family and a little bit more eager he resumed his pace alongside Anko. She noticed this and was about to sigh, but stopped herself from doing so - in the end she would just make the Uzumaki anxious and that would make everything even more complex as it already was.

Finally they stopped in front of one of the holding cells. The door looked pretty much the same like the others - made of a heavy and durable alloy to prevent anyone from the inside to open it, not that this would have been possible in the first place. Yet, despite the ordinary look behind it rested this time something that could only barely be called human anymore - even the Mitarashi shuddered a bit as she remembered the sight and for a moment her hand hesitated, before she got a hold of herself and, pushing the specially designed key into the lock, opened the massive door, lighting the chamber with the sparse light of the corridor.

**(A/N: This is the torture part I talked about. Consider yourself warned.)**

Hanging limply in the massive chains were the breathing remnants of an ex-jonin of Orochimaru's forces. To describe his state as beyond terrible was like stating that Naruto was the son of the Yondaime - it was totally obvious, yet painful to admit. The Snake Mistress had already seen her fare share of dead people, tortured traitors, failed and mutated experiments and mutilated survivors - still, this sight managed to set even someone as hardened as her off, did it display the full extent of what the Snake Sannin was capable and willing to do if someone overstepped the line that was never to be crossed.

The man, Tetsu, merely managed to open his lonely, remaining eye and from his orb shone nothing - not even pain. There was no emotion present, not even the slightest spark of something - all that was there and at the same time not was pure nothingness. This soul was beyond shattered - it had reached a point where the ninth circle of hell would be like salvation. The man had seen what only few mortals could claim - and survived, but was incapable of telling of his experiences.

The Snake Sannin had unleashed his complete fury on the man and spared no amount of creativity to inflict new, unknown levels of pain unto the man, so far that he even resorted to seals, blood-refilling pills and reversed anesthetic jutsu to keep the man at consciousness and alive over the course of the torture. Tetsu had been 'worked on' until little to no reminded of the man that he once was - and deep, deep down, the Mitarashi still felt as if it wasn't enough punishment. Since she had been forbidden to enter as long as Orochimaru raged she was forced to satisfy herself with the howls for mercy and cries of pain the tortured screamed to the heaven - but as they became less and less frequent and the Snake Sannin still hadn't stopped, the Snake Mistress started to become worried.

As her father and master finally emerged from the cell where the torture had happened his face sported an absolute predatory grin - almost scaring her in combination with the intensity of the rage and madness in his eyes. But the satisfaction that radiated from him reassured her that Tetsu had paid dearly. And paid he had indeed. His jaw was dislocated, hanging at an almost impossible angle, forcefully leaving his mouth open. Teeth had been ripped from his mouth, leaving holes in the tender flesh of the mouth. The few remaining were splintered and cracked open, before the Snake Sannin had forced ice-cold water down his throat, the pain biting deep.

Still, that was only the beginning, because after Orochimaru had finished with that part he had ripped the rest apart as well, then forced Tetsu's tongue out as wide as he could, before slicing the upside open with very precise cuts of an scalpel, dripping highly corrosive acid into the wounds directly after that. Seals ensured that the man felt the full pain and couldn't black out - even as his tongue was almost eaten away by the acid and the Sannin ripped it out with brute force, dropping a few droplets of acid in the still open and tender wounds were once teeth had been. The pain seemed limitless - still, Orochimaru's work was far from over.

For the next step he had ordered a vat full of steaming hot water. Tetsu was then, upon arrival of said order, drowned in the boiling water to the point where he was about to die, still being held by the chains so he almost dislocated his legs and arms due to his trashing around - but the Snake Sannin wouldn't allow that to happen, he wanted to take care of that personally, so he produced Kusanagi from his mouth and nailed the man's legs at the wall. Upon taking hold of the, despite the heavy restrictions, wildly moving arms, Orochimaru dislocated both appendages in the most painful way possible, having located his knee between the shoulder blade's of the traitor and yanking at the arms with all the force he could muster, yet doing it as slow as possible.

The Sannin had lost count of how many times he had forced Tetsu's head under the boiling water, but as the water had finally run cold the face of the man was redder than everything he had ever seen, swollen and the skin had started to peel off - making his next move so more sweeter, now that the tender flesh lay open. Still, before he could start on enjoying that part he reinforced the seals and forced a blood-refilling pill down the man's throat. There was no way that he would let him die before he had finished.

Summoning four of the most venomous snakes he could think of, the Sannin ordered each of his summons to bite into one appendage, bringing as much poison as possible into his system, of course restricting said appendages with their bodies while doing so. As soon as he was certain that everything was in proper place Orochimaru produced a specially crafted knife from his clothes. It was designed to withstand even the greatest of heats and the handle was made in order to allow the user to don't feel the heat. Using a small Katon jutsu the Sannin heated the knife to the point where it glowed white.

Turning to his victim, Orochimaru's cruel smirk almost split his face in half as he saw the eyes of the man widening in understanding. This was going to be _fun_. Slowly, almost teasingly slow, he brought the heated knife to the face of his victim. Alone being near to such heat caused burn wounds of the first degree to form - but of course it was far away from that what would truly satisfy the most unholy of rages that the Sannin felt.

And so he started to cut with the almost steaming knife through Tetsu's face, leaving extremely noticeable scars, for those kind of wounds would never completely heal, with literally burning blood behind. Every move Orochimaru made, every droplet of blood he spilled brought him sick satisfaction - but right now he could not care less. Chuckling darkly he brought the still glowing knife up to eye-level of Tetsu, who eyed it with nothing but pure fear - he seemingly understood what was about to come.

Not once did the Sannin speak as he used his thumb and index finger to forcefully open the eyelids of Tetsu's right orb, whose attempts at trashing around were useless and only served in wearing him out and increasing his hopelessness. And then the white, searing pain came in form of the knife. Orochimaru merely used the tip to literally melt the eye and as the traitor's pained sounds increased to a whole new level, the remnants of what was once an orb running down the abused face in a steaming white-gray stream, only the almost buried rational side of the Sannin noted how disgusted he should have been with himself, but such a thought was far away from the side that he showed in the moment.

After he was done with his gruesome task Orochimaru cooled the still glowing knife in the vat and as soon as it had stopped glowing, he brought it up to the remaining eye of his victim. Unbelievable satisfaction had already fogged his mind, to vent out his frustration and anger against the source of his pain was all he could think of. The Snake Sannin wanted nothing more than to rip the last of these blasted orbs out of its socket, severing nerves, thrusting his makeshift weapon into the traitor's brain and spilling even more blood - but then, just mere millimeters away from the forcefully exposed eye, he halted the knife. Orochimaru held it perfectly still - not even the slightest quiver or trembling was to be seen as a stray thought crossed his mind.

'_No, it would make things to easy, end it way too soon. This can't be allowed, I will bring even more pain upon him when I force him to watch how his body fells apart under my fury. I will make him regret, when I force him to watch on hopelessly how nothing will stop me from mutilating his body!'_ he thought, renewing his maddened rage.

The wicked and twisted expression on the features of the Snake Sannin intensified. Orochimaru dismissed his summons, not noticing that they shared glances. This development they would have to report to their leader Manda, something was obviously wrong with their summoner. This time he forced his victim flat, bending awkwardly in the un-budging chains, on the bloody floor and ripped what little of his tattered clothes were left apart to reveal Tetsu's back.

Planting his foot firmly on the neck of the traitor, guaranteeing that he wouldn't do something stupid or even consider twitching under the threat of having his neck broken. Since the traitor's arms were only dislocated he could still feel the pain that came from them as the iron chains tightened around said appendages. For a moment he considered using Kusanagi, that was still firmly lodged in Tetsu's legs and had already started to make the wound even bigger due to the movements, for the next part but decided against it. The blade of Orochimaru's prized weapon was way too sharp to make his next action truly painful, so he called out to one of his guards behind the door.

"Get me the most rusty knife, kunai or weapon you can get your hand on and that yesterday. Anything will do it as long as it has a blade that can still be used." the Snake Sannin ordered and the hurried disappearing sounds of footsteps indicated that the task was about to be fulfilled. For the moment he had to be content with watching the traitor squirm pathetically in pain under his foot and Killer Intent.

Only minutes later the small shutter, that was normally used to watch the prisoner through, flew open and an extremely rusty kunai was handed to Orochimaru. Examining the weapon in the light of the lamp he had brought with him in the cell he nodded in satisfaction. Little was left of the once sharp blade as it had started to fall apart under the rust, but yet this one remained sharp enough to cut through skin and flesh for one of the sides sported several spike-like remnants that were less effected by the rust.

'_This will do it.'_ the Snake Sannin mused.

Crouching down and pressing the rusty knife above Tetsu's shoulder blades he couldn't help but add something teasingly. "You know, you should brace yourself. This will hurt… a lot. Kukuku." Chuckling madly, Orochimaru sunk the brownish blade into the unclothed back of the traitor and started skinning him.

Straps of bloody skin started to pile on the ground beneath the Sannin, but he wouldn't stop until he had finished his gruesome work. Every now and then he would trust the jagged blade a bit deeper than needed, making the man doing a pained and throaty equivalent of a yelp. Orochimaru's handiwork was precise and not once did he let himself be disturbed. He was faintly aware that not even seals and his jutsu could guarantee that Tetsu would feel all of the pain - there was just so much a human body could take and it was very likely too happen that his nerves would stop transmitting the pain because of pure overload. Still, the Sannin also wanted to vent out his anger, so he didn't care as much as he would at other times.

As soon as the rosy flesh of his victim's back lay finally open and he had piled the strips of skin more or less neatly on the floor, Orochimaru reached into the depths of his clothes to bring two small vials to light. One held a dangerously glowing yellow liquid, whilst in the other a strange, seemingly colorless one waited. Obviously contemplating which one he should use, for the ingredients for both of them were really, really rare and expensive, he finally decided on the yellow one - the other was too strong and would most likely kill his unfortunate victim within the next six or seven minutes, given the state he was in and there was no seal, jutsu or pill to prevent this outcome. If there had even been the slightest possibility to do exactly that he would have used it, that much was certain.

Until now the Snake Sannin had solely relied on physical torture, but this was moment where he would step it up. The yellow liquid he distributed across Testu's skinned back, carefully in order to not come into contact with it himself, would take care of it for, being named 'Scarlet Ghost' in reference to its purpose and need to be spread over a wide amount of flesh, it was especially designed to, quite literally, fuck with the mind of the one whose system the liquid was brought into. It would take a while before it would work, though, approximately two or three more minutes - but in such a situation the Sannin was not really a patient man.

Before Orochimaru could even think about what he would do next, his hands had already almost automatically formed the hand seals for a Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. Realizing just what he was about to do, namely burning his victim to ashes, something he of course didn't intended to so early, but to late to really prevent the jutsu from being released, the Sannin already felt the oxygen of his lungs mixing with his chakra, Orochimaru could only reduce the size of the fireball and averted his head in the last moment.

Instead of scorching Tetsu's skinned and poisoned back - Orochimaru hit the head of his _very_ unfortunate victim, immediately setting the hairs at fire and bringing the skin to the point were it was about to melt off. Cursing violently, using swears that would make even a sailor blush in embarrassment, the Snake Sannin used a Suiton Jutsu to suffocate the flames. He ended up with soaking himself, his victim and the whole room.

As he surveyed the damage he had already done, especially the scorched head, Orochimaru came to notice that the skin around the bite wounds dealt by his summons had started to turn into a green/gray color. He realized that in this case he must have summoned the children of Manda - only they were capable of producing a slow-working but highly dangerous venom that would cause the body to rot apart from the inside.

Allowing himself a moment to calm down the Snake Sannin started to think about how he could ensure that the pitiful shell in front of him stayed among the living as long as possible and how he could maybe use even Tetsu's remnants. Maybe he would be capable of extracting the poison from the man's system, but in any case his mutilated corpse would serve the purpose of deterrence. Sometimes psychological warfare was seriously severely underestimated.

Taking once more hold of his sword, the Snake Sannin allowed himself one more moment to realize that he was running out of ideas and time - if he would go any further than he already had gone, Tetsu would die. But he also realized that all the righteous punishment he had brought upon the traitor still wasn't enough to satisfy him.

Ripping Kusanagi from its fleshy prison Orochimaru eyed his prisoner. Then he took a step back before slashing in the air with two half-circle motions and after the deed was done he swallowed the sword. For a single moment it seemed as if nothing had happened - but then, with a shower of blood all ten of the traitor's fingers fell to the ground, cleanly severed from the hands, before mentioned appendages followed closely behind.

By now Tetsu was nothing but a shell, broken way beyond the point of no return. Tears, blood and scorched skin had left his face in a mess and the man was overloaded with pain. But, even the seals couldn't prevent him from losing his feelings, his numbing. Still, in his mind was only one thing. 'Scarlet Ghost' had started its repelling work. Deep, guttural sounds, more like gurgling because of the blood and removed tongue, were formed by him unconsciously, as his deepest nightmares were starting to come true - at least in his mind. A slap brought him partially back into reality, only to see the bleary image of a madly grinning Orochimaru.

Deciding to get back into the flow he started to beat the remnants of the living daylights out of the man, especially intended to break Tetsu's legs. The Snake Sannin then, because of a lack of further ideas, formed the hand signs for another Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. This time he aimed it at the calves of his victim, keeping the fire a steady flow to ensure a normally deadly outcome if hit head on. As Orochimaru finally cancelled his technique the appendages were burned black, at one point even the bone was seen through.

For one moment the Snake Sannin considered dealing even more damage, ripping legs and arms apart, tearing them from their joints and sockets to the point where only mere strips of muscle tissue ensured Tetsu being hold up by the chains. But all Orochimaru could do as he surveyed the damage was to smile cruelly and chuckle darkly - still, inside he felt somewhat hollow and powerless, now that he had vent out his righteous fury and anger.

During most of the torture Tetsu had never stopped crying in pain, even as his tongue was removed and his ability to speak therefore hindered, the noises reduced to something akin to deep gurgling, he never ended - but eventually he did stop and succumbed to the never ending wave's of pain that crashed against his being and started to shatter his soul. By the time the Snake Sannin was done, little to no was left unscarred of his body and his soul.

"Consider yourself lucky that I still need you alive, because I am far from done. With you I will set a warning example to all of my men. No one will ever dare something as foolish as your coup d'état again, nor will they ever try to harm my son." he stated with a shake of his head, nether his grin nor his expression wavering, despite his inner turmoil, as he left the cell to meet up with his impatient getting daughter.

**(A/N: The mentioned torture scene is over - feel free to read again.)**

Anko had to seriously suppress the shudder that was threatening to crawl down her spine, just because of the mere image that was burned into her mind - she had severely underestimated the rage of her father. The Snake Mistress couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted of the remnants of a man in front of her, but at the same time she was also offended because she hadn't been allowed to add her own two cents.

Ever since she had opened the door the purple-haired woman had also kept a close look at her little brother, ready to step in the moment he showed renewed signs of trauma. Imagine her surprise when the Uzumaki's eyes turned hollow and cold at the same time, his expression becoming one of rage. Despite that, since he didn't seem to have a relapse she had to press on. About his reaction, she had thought he would be shocked or repelled, she would have to tell Orochimaru and ponder together with him about it. Crouching low so that they were at the same eyelevel Anko drew a kunai and put an arm around the shoulders of Naruto.

"Do you know who this is?" she intrigued.

"Tetsu." the blond answered, his voice as cold and hollow as his eyes. The Mitarashi nearly flinched at this.

"Yes, it is him. Or to be more accurate what little pathetic remnants are left of him. Do you now understand why we are here?" the Mitarashi asked further, waving the kunai subtlety at the edge of his vision, causing Naruto's eyes to widen for a second.

"You want me to kill him." the Uzumaki stated, the slightest amount of confusion in his voice.

"Indeed, father wants to see him dead by your hands. Do it." she ordered, giving him the weapon and a gentle shove in the direction of the chained.

As much as she hated to force Naruto, in such a young age nonetheless, to do something as horrible as this, she couldn't bring herself to defy the orders of the Snake Sannin. With concerned eyes she watched how the blond took tentative steps towards, clutching the kunai unconsciously so hard that his knuckles turned white. The Snake Mistress would pay a hefty amount to see his expression and to know what he thought - but she had to stay behind. This was the moment where the Uzumaki had to be left alone to his own devices.

Naruto was, to his own surprise, amazingly calm, his mind free of stray thoughts and distracting emotions, to the point where he almost felt hollow. Pointing the weapon at the man's throat, like he had seen his father and sister do so often, he could only wonder for a few moments. If this was what Orochimaru expected him to do, then he would obey. But he couldn't help but ponder about himself - shouldn't he be repelled, shouldn't he at least do something? Listening deep into himself, he found no answer.

Like a hawk watched the Mitarashi what the Uzumaki was doing, growing even more nervous over the time as the blond stood there, ready to kill, his hand unwavering but his resolve unknown. Seconds became minutes and as she was ready to step in, Naruto finally cut the throat of the traitor, sparing him of more suffering and took a step back, watching how the light faded from Tetsu's remaining eye.

"How do you feel now?" Anko questioned, concerned about her little brother. _'I hope this did neither scar nor brake him.'_

"I don't know." the boy answered after a moment of tense silence, allowing the bloody weapon to fall down, his eyes and soul hollow. This was the first time he realized that something was off with him.

**~~End Flashback~~**

* * *

**~~With Naruto~~**

_Naruto felt, for a lack of better description, strange. But before he could think about what happened to cause this sensation, where or who he was, another presence forced his conscious aside. Still, he felt - but what he felt was so different from anything he ever experienced, that the blond was momentarily thrown for a loop. This lasted only for a moment, because out of nowhere he was assaulted by memories that weren__'__t his - at least according to what little was left of him._

_Red eyes snapped open and wandered across the small room. Noting nothing out of the ordinary, the owner of the crimson pools raised himself from his bed. Small, almost tentative steps were taken to a door at the side of the room. Upon entering, the figure stood in a bathroom. Shocking knowledge was revealed to the dormant rest of Naruto as the now identified woman stared at her reflection in the mirror, after splashing her face with some cold water. She was definitely not human - the nine crimson tails that sprouted from the end of her spine and the red fox-ears atop her head proved this._

_But before he could manage to ponder about it, the flesh turned beauty created clothes out of thin air for herself, gave her picture in the mirror a once-over and left the bath. The redhead was rummaging through a closet as out of nowhere the feeling of impending doom crashed down on the woman, thoughts were running so fast in her head that the Uzumaki had in his state trouble grasping even one of those. But a single emotion was so strong that even he in his state of numbness was capable of feeling it - fear._

"_No, how did he find me?__"__ the woman asked frightened no one in particular, as she found her greatest fear about to come through._

_Less than a heartbeat later hell came crashing down around her. If her house hadn__'__t been a small cabin with only one floor she would have been forced to defend her against more than just the falling roof, as countless and priceless treasures of her were destroyed. As soon as the dust settled the redhead found herself in nothing but debris - and staring at the only one she ever truly feared._

"_Knock knock.__"__ Jashin said grinning like a madman, a thick, foul and black aura surrounding him._

_The moment his unholy eyes, spiraling pits of hell__'__s madness, void of true emotion - orbs of the death himself locked with her own, crimson ones, pain beyond all she and the numbed Naruto had ever felt racked her entire being, slowly robbing her, under howls for mercy and cries of pain, of her life-force. The last thing the two of them saw was the smug grin the dark deity carried as he opened his to a fist balled hand - the pain ended this very moment, but they already slipped into unconsciousness._

Naruto awoke with a jolt and a scream on his lips. Sweat was running down his forehead and temples, his heart beating so fast that he feared for a moment it would explode. The blond took deep breaths in order to calm himself, mentally berating himself for being scared by a simple dream - but this attempt was in vain as he realized that he was at a place he did not remember, even if the forest seemed at least a little bit familiar.

"**Good, you are awake. And here I thought it would take you a few millennia to ever wake up. Seriously, you sleep like a rock.****"** a distinctly familiar voice said behind him and in less than a heartbeat he was already up and facing the one behind him - only to freeze and stare at the beautiful woman.

"**I know, I know.****"** she sighed with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"**I am beautiful, but could you stop staring? It is terribly rude and there is very much we have to talk about - and I need you to pay attention, understood?****"** the redhead may had asked sweetly, but in her voice lay an inhuman undertone that scared the living shit out of the Uzumaki - so he did as told.

The moment her crimson eyes, that held a spark of amusement and something else, way darker, that he couldn't identify, locked with his blue ones, the blond had the faint feeling of remembering those orbs - but, under the light of these new circumstances his dream already forgotten, he was certain that he had never seen this woman before, or did he? Trying to wrap his mind around this confusing matter Naruto spaced out once more. The vixen had to restrain herself in order to not round on him. After all, this would be very counterproductive.

'_It is just a pathetic human child Kyuubi, stay calm, breath even and clear your mind. Everything is alright. Everything. Just give him a moment - it is just a child, a mere toddler compared to someone like you.__'_ she tried to reason with herself in order to stay calm and collected.

Unfortunately she failed horrible as her already stressed temper was starting to wear even thinner. Giving the boy a not really gentle nudge with one of her tails the redhead gained his attention once more - ignoring his slightly shocked expression at the scowl that had involuntarily spread across her features.

"**Listen here child, I do not know why we have such an opportunity, but I will not allow it to go to waste because you weren't able to do as told. Is that understood?"** the vixen threatened as she brought her face dangerously close to his.

The boy merely nodded dumbfounded and satisfied she increased the distance between them.

"**Very well then. First things first, do you know who I am and where you are?"** she intrigued, already knowing, due to her looking into his memories, that the boy was aware of the Kyuubi being sealed within him by his own father.

Intimidated by the behavior of the strange and foreign woman he did as told and examined not only her but also his surroundings. The redhead noticed how fox-like the boy looked as the Uzumaki squinted his eyes - this could maybe become a problem later on if he made that a habit. People always tended to jump to quick conclusions. Kyuubi shrugged. Seemingly just one thing on the ever growing list she had to work on in order to escape her prison and wreck havoc above those who suppressed her.

'_She does look a little bit like Kaa-chan, that much I have to admit. But with these ears and tails… how many of them are there anyway?'_ the blond wondered, confused and entranced at the same time by the constant movement of the appendages.

Once more using one of her tails to shove the boy out of his stupor-like state, the redhead fixed her unwavering gaze upon the Uzumaki.

"**And? What is your answer? Or will just keep staring into the space?"** she questioned, even if she would never admit it actually the slightest bit curios and interested - after all, his answer would determine how she would approach every matter in the future.

"You may do look like Kaa-chan, but you aren't her. You aren't entirely human, either. Tou-san had told me about what happened to Konoha five years ago and by extension me. That leaves only one possibility - you are the Kyuubi no Yoko. But why do you look like a woman instead of a giant fox? I can't say exactly where we are, but are we perhaps in the seal? And if that is the case, then why does it look so… beautiful?" the blond intrigued curiously, no fear on his features or in his voice.

The vixen stared at him for a moment, progressing what he had just said and the consequences of that - scaring the shit out of him was, for whatever reason, seemingly impossible, because she could sense that it wasn't faked, but true confidence.

"**I am… surprised. You have come to the right conclusion, I am indeed Kyuubi, but I prefer to be called Kyuubi no Kitsune, Yoko is but a meaningless title. Yet, despite this knowledge, you do not fear me. Before I explain to you our whereabouts, I want to know why this is the case. Do you understand, brat?"** the redhead asked, for the first time genuinely curios - she had seemingly missed something important.

"Well, whilst I have to admit that I don't know much about you, I was obviously unconscious for a long time. Seeing that you already waited for me to wake up and even commented on how long I took to do this I have to assume that you have found me a while ago. Since I awoke unharmed and alive I think it is safe to say that you at least want something from me. Besides, thanks to tou-san I do know about most of the working of the seal we share, that means I am aware that when either you or I die, the other will cease to exist as well. I am genuinely sorry for the events that almost led to your death, even if I technically was dead. I made a grave mistake and paid the price for it." the Uzumaki explained without deceit in his voice, angered because of being called a 'brat' but intelligent enough to not pick a fight with the powerful redhead.

"**Indeed, you know next to nothing about me, but that is beside the point. Your explanation was logical and satisfied me thus far. It is also good to know that you have already accepted your faults back then. I thought I had to reprimand you on that, because such arrogance is not fitting for my host."** the vixen answered, nodding in approval.

"What do you want from me then, Kyuubi-san?" Naruto intrigued curiously, earning him a glare from the woman.

"**Didn't I already told you in the beginning of our conservation to only speak after asked to? Seriously, your behavior is terribly rude. However, now that you are finally awake, I will give you an short explanation of our whereabouts. Yes, we are indeed in the seal, to be exactly we are in the joined subconscious of our minds. It does look beautiful, because it is the part I have control of. But why do you assume that your mind would look, lets say, repelling?"** she asked, despite her goals and prior mindset growing even more interested over the course of their conservation.

This wasn't exactly how she had planned the things to go, but as long as he gave information freely she would be the one on the gaining side. The Uzumaki struck a thinking pose for a few seconds as he pondered on how to explain his assumption.

"Well, I have already killed several people and never really cared about their death. Feeling no remorse or guilt, but something akin to satisfaction. Neither my sister nor my father said it, but I think I should at least feel something more, not starting to enjoy it. I know that makes me not necessarily evil, but at least someone who doesn't walk in the light." Here he paused for a moment. "I have come to realize that I don't really care about that all." the blond added as an afterthought.

'_Now this is interesting, another thing to be used in my quest for freedom.'_ she thought.

"**I see. Well, it is up to you how to decide and feel on that topic, but I advise you to remain where you are. Emotions tend to get you distracted, but discarding them isn't really an option. If you ever become a mindless drone I will personally beat the living shit out of you. You are my container, the host of the mightiest Bijuu to ever be, their queen, so start behaving appropriate. There are two things I want, no, expect you to do. Not only for me, but for you as well."** Kyuubi declared, her tone leaving almost no room for an argument.

"**First, I expect from you to never ever again come into contact with Jashin. He is the god of war, a wicked deity know even by the most humans as a notorious liar. There is nothing good he has ever done - I don't know why exactly he helped you without a real reason, but be wary about everything that is remotely close to him and his cult. They can't be trusted."** she stated and, seeing the boy about to ask, sighed. **"What is it that can't wait, brat?"**

"How can you tell me to don't trust him, Kyuubi-san? Do you know him? And why should I believe you? This could be very well a plot from you to make me believe in something that isn't right. After all, he brought me back to life." Naruto stated, trying to stay as polite as possible - still, the redhead was offended by that, partially because it was a lie and partially because he was at least half true.

"**Seriously? I thought you had already figured it out on your own, but I gave you seemingly too much credit after your insight on your arrogance. Very well then, in this case I will humor you. Yes, I do know Jashin personally and you should trust me on my opinion on him and if not, just ask this precious father and sister of yours - they will confirm my words. Anyway, I am seriously offended. Jashin may had brought you back to life, but that was it. It was me who gave you the power to actually defeat those shinobi, so don't you dare to doubt me ever again. If you would think about it for a moment, you would have found the most obvious answer on why you should trust me by your own - the seal binds us together, if I do something that would hurt you, I would, even in the long run, inescapable hurt myself to. That would be just plain stupid, don't you think?"** the vixen reasoned.

As the boy nodded his acceptance of her words after a few minutes of staring at her judgingly, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

'_Phew, that was a close call. It seems he is really grateful that this asshole saved him and I can't allow myself a slipup in the next time concerning this sensitive topic or everything will be in vain.'_ the redhead mused.

"**Now, on to the second thing I expect from you. You will becoming my apprentice. Since you are of the appropriate age it is still possible to mold you into a extremely strong fighter. Hell would freeze before I allow my host to be weak. You represent by extension me, therefore there should be no mortal opponent ever proving a challenge for you - yet in the moment you are far away from such a position. This is were I will take action. Don't expect from me to help you out every time you encounter a problem. Consider me an immortal guide and teacher. Still, you have to earn my help. If you want my support, then I want to have four favors from you. They are to be fulfilled when I see fit and you will obey without hesitation, got that? Consider this offer carefully, because I only offer it this time. Deny it and forget about any kind of help from my side."** she declared her sight on that matter, unwilling to change the extremely generous offer even the slightest bit.

The Uzumaki gasped at her declaration. To be offered something like this was truly unbelievable and therefore beyond concept for the boy - so he stood there, mouth agape. Still, his mind finally caught up.

"Kyuubi-san, without wanting to be rude, but these offers are too generous and that is suspicious - what are you planning, what do these favors contain exactly?" Naruto intrigued.

The vixen scoffed - she was a Kitsune, no way she would be outsmarted by a mere child. But considering it for a moment she accepted that even a half-truth would gain her more trust from the boy - only aiding her in the long run and two of her favors weren't that harming to talk about, still the positions had to be made clear.

"**Yes, my offer is indeed generous. However, do you seriously expect you, a simple human who has yet to earn my full trust and to prove himself truly worthy of my guidance, to be privy to be informed about something as personal as this? Do you, brat?"** she threatened, closing the distance between them once more, her whole posture menacing and the movement of her tails more deadly, now positioned to strike.

"No of course not, I am sorry." the blond hurriedly said, almost frightened by this new side of his tenant.

'_Women are scary.'_ was all he thought - something he would come to remember quite often in the future.

The redhead decreased the distance between them once more, to the obvious relief of Naruto.

"**That is good to hear. But be glad, I will humor you once more today by telling you two of my favors. The one is to destroy Konoha and the other is to kill a certain man, as soon as you come across him - if you don't comply in this situation I will take over, forcefully if needed. The others will be told, that is should the right time ever arise - but I can assure you, that none of the other two will bring harm to those you consider precious."** the vixen lied the last part without flinching - he and every one around him would most likely be destroyed the very moment he released the seal completely, but for that he would need to be at least an advanced seal master.

"**Now, how will you decide? Remember, this is the one and only time I offer you something of this magnitude."** she stated, inwardly a little bit worried about what she should do if the Uzumaki got the stupid idea of rejecting her offer.

Luckily for her, her host and every one else this decision would affect positively Naruto never truly thought about refusing - he was merely unsure if he could really trust the vixen, after all, her kind was know for her great skills in deception. But he did know of something else about the Kitsune as well - if you could get someone to make an oath then it would be fulfilled and kept, no matter the circumstances, because their pride was even greater. Young Uzumaki decided to try and use that to ensure the upholding of Kyuubi's part of the bargain. He may didn't know what were the reasons for those two favors, but so far he had no problem with them.

"I have already decided to accept your offer, Kyuubi-san. But something is still troubling me - can you swear that the last two favors will not harm them?" he asked, his voice a little bit pleading.

The redhead merely arched a brow at this. _'Interesting, that much I have to admit. It seems he does at least know more than I am willing to give him credit for - still, this is an outraging offence.'_

"**No brat, forget about it. This contract is already heavily in your favor and I will not swear anything about something which magnitude you can't even begin to grasp. But if you are so stubborn then fine - I will give you my **_**word**_** that I will never intentionally harm your precious people. This is far as I will go, concerning this matter. You start to annoy me though, so decide now or never. Are you still willing to accept?"** she questioned, already preparing herself to lash out at the boy and force him to do her biding - there is only so much she was willing to go through and this was just a child for crying out loud. Sadly, this child was the guard of her prison and she needed him more then she was willing to admit.

"Of course, I would be a fool to deny something as generous as this. I thank you for this chance, Kyuubi-san." the boy said.

"**Very well then. Now that we have cleared that there remain only two things to do. I will now project the seal right in front of you. As soon as it appears you will erase a tenth of it. This will enable us to set a telepathic link to communicate with each other if needed and also allow our powers to flow more easily in the case of an emergency. The second thing that we will do is ensuring that our partner will hold his end of the bargain. Understood?"** the vixen explained what was about to come.

As soon as the blond had nodded his understanding she closed her eyes and started concentrating on the seal itself. Since she had changed the landscape the Shiki Fujin had been placed on her stomach, allowing her to trace every single layer of it. Naruto watched in awe how between him and Kyuubi a giant system, at least ten times as tall as the redhead, of complex black lines and markings appeared. Was that the seal? Then how should he erase a tenth of it? His silent questions were answered as the seal began to shrink in size and was brought upon a piece of paper. Tearing roughly a tenth of it apart, he stared in wonder as the marking on the piece he held in his hands disappeared, right before the complete seal vanished again.

"That was surprisingly easy." the Uzumaki had to admit, still baffled. The vixen snorted at that.

"**What did you expect, especially with my help? Now give me your left hand."** she ordered, leaving no room for arguments and grabbed said extended appendage firmly.

Muttering under her breath, so low that even Naruto with his slightly enhanced hearing wouldn't be capable of understanding it, Kyuubi started to intone a, especially for those purposes developed, technique of her clan. For a few seconds the whole of her power manifested around her, almost crushing the Uzumaki and showing him that she was no one to ever mess with. As soon as the last syllable left her lips black marking spread from her palm, enveloping her forearm and hand, the same happening to the blond, who looked on once more in awe.

"**Good, now we are finished. By the time you wake up it should be done and settled. Be gone now, brat. I have things to do."** Kyuubi said and shoved him out of the mindscape via a burst of her power, avoiding further and, at least in her opinion, unnecessary questions.

'_Well, that had gone more smoothly then I expected, even if it was a little bit complicated at some parts. For now I will rest, at least until the right time arises. Lets see if he proves himself even worthy of receiving any kind of real help from me.'_

* * *

**~~Back with Orochimaru~~**

The two of them had left the bedroom and moved into the room that was connected to the corridor, in order to not unintentionally wake the blond. Anko snapped out of her musings as someone knocked almost hesitantly at the door. Orochimaru tensed as well, taking a moment to identify the in the moment unknown chakra signature of the person outside of his rooms. The reserves were small, yet firm, indicating that it was most likely a young female.

'_I am sure that I sensed this signature before, but where and by whom?__'_ the Snake Sannin mused, thrown for a loop.

The Mitarashi merely sighed, recognizing the signature as the one of her student, Tayuya. She had personally brought the redhead back with her, as the purple-haired woman had stumbled across her three years ago by pure chance on one of her missions in the outskirts of a small and poor village in the barren lands of Earth country, near the border to Rice country - which soon would be named Sound, a thought that really exited her.

Anko had almost immediately taken a liking to the young girl as she found Tayuya to be like a younger mini-version of herself, with the fierce and no-nonsense attitude, the foul language and, of course, the disrespectful behavior, which she would have to bring her out of - that aside, the skills she had shown as the redhead had attempted to steal her purse were promising, especially for a child and the flute-based genjutsu were interesting in themselves. Still, the Mitarashi had only started around two years ago to take her under her wing - the year before she was busy with watching over Naruto like a hawk and seeing how the girl would progress in the new surroundings.

"You can come in, Tayuya." the Snake Mistress called therefore, already knowing what the redhead would want.

* * *

**~~Kami****'****s court~~**

Staring impassively at the imposing wooden doors that waited in front of him, the cloak carrier could already feel the rage building up within him once more. Jashin had already really angered and annoyed the hell out of him - and now he was about to face the so-called gods that were the reason for this whole ordeal in the first place.

Behind the gate to Kami's Court was, at least in his opinion, as much enemy territory as it was in the empire of the god of war - the only difference was that here he had an ally for his own schemes - unbeknownst to the other gods of course. Steeling himself the man opened the doors with a mighty push and stepped into the chamber. As soon as his presence was recognized the assembled gods stopped their conservation and rested their eyes and attention solely at him.

The cloaked figure easily spotted his ally - an imposing figure, a heavily muscled man, standing at impressive 6'8", with black hair and eyes of an icy blue with a slitted pupil. This was Ryuujin, head of the Dragon summons and in the end god of all of them. Still, something was seemingly off with his whole posture and if one looked closely enough they could spot countless seals, mostly for the purpose of suppression, of the loyalty seal the two allies had luckily already gotten rid off, behind his clothes and on the whole of his skin. These seals had been placed on the god by Kami, Yami and Shinigami.

But why should the three goddesses, the mightiest of all of them, do something as horrible as this to their own kind? Well, the reasons were rather complex, but simple at the same time. First, the trio wanted to ensure that Ryuujin stayed in line, especially after what had happened to his family, clan and summoners, second, they feared his power for he was even before becoming a god almost unstoppable, third and last but not least - that was a reason to not be revealed right now, but lets just say that he was blamed guilty for knowing and supporting the wrong person, at least according to the three goddesses.

The spy gave his old summon and comrade, until now they were close friends and ultimately became allies, a reassuring, understanding and comforting glance, gaining an approving nod in response. Luckily the quick exchange had, thanks to the hood of the cloak carrier, gone unnoticed by the other gods. There was no need to add more oil to the fire, at least in the moment - their time would come and that soon.

The cloak carrier stiffed noticeable as he was approached by three of the four living beings he hated the most. It couldn't be denied that they were beautiful, but he remained faithful to his only love, that was taken from him by exactly the three women that stood currently in front of him. He had to restrict himself in order to not lash out at the goddesses, especially as Yami send a seductive glance towards him. She had tried, and failed, multiple times in the past to seduce him - most likely in order to have her way with him and ensure his loyalty to the court of gods.

"**Greetings, it is good to see you again, we started to get worried. How are you?"** Kami intrigued in polite curiosity, a small smile gracing her perfect features.

"**Cut that crap."** the cloak carrier all but growled, alone the power of his voice easily on par with that of the goddess. **"We both know the truth, so just shut up, I have important news. Jashin is ready for war."**

* * *

**A/N:** So, another chapter has been done. Once more, feel free to point out errors so I can correct them. Reviews are appreciated! What will happen from now on? Be ready to find out next time!

One of the more important things I want to clarify right now is the importance of the cloaked figure that 'accompanied' Jashin – but don't jump to conclusions right now, when you know next to nothing about this character. And yes, Orochimaru is a writer under the pseudonym of O. C. Maru – I was a little bit bored and decided to add this little feature as some kind of running gag or whatever you will come to call it.


	5. IMPORTANT AN

**A/N: Dear readers, I hereby have to delay bad news to you. After working on the new chapter quite some time, re-reading what I wrote so far and thinking about all the submitted reviews I finally came to a decision. No, the story will not be put down/deleted, but it will be put on hiatus until I manage to get my muse back in line. On a side note, I wish to apologize to you all. I never thought this idea would actually manage to fascinate that many readers (at least by my standards) - seriously, I expected this much feedback at the end of the story. Therefore I am really grateful - this alone is a reason for not disbanding this fiction.**

**I merely wish to give more details and depth, which will help in iron out your own conclusions - thanks to the constant help of you my dear readers which pointed out (the sometimes in hindsight pretty obvious) flaws I finally came to notice that I veered to much off the course this story should have taken from the very beginning.**

**Now you may ask - well, that is all nice and cozy, but what exactly will happen? Will what I came to like change/be discarded? Therefore a short list of the things that will definitely not change;**

**1. Pairing is Naruto x Harem, with Naruto x Tayuya as main-pairing and an absolute total of four women which are already decided on. No changing my mind on that one. Another thanks for all your **

**2. Extremely strong/darkish Naruto, but he has to work hard for his power. His mindset however is a whole other story.**

**3. Orochimaru took Naruto from Konoha after his birth and the sealing - there will also be his twin Nariko but she will grow up in the Leaf. Anko will be like a big sister for our favorite Uzumaki and Orochi will also make an appearance.**

**4. The mad god of war Jashin will meddle with the human world - as well as all the other gods. There will still be the conspiracy amongst them too.**

**The revision will take its time, since I don't want to make the same mistakes all over again. Still, I hope you will come to enjoy the new design.**

**On another side note, after re-reading 'Yellow and Red makes' from Digitize27 and 'The Real Monster' from Shadenight123 (both you should really read if you don't know them already) I was so flabber-gasted by their level of style - well, no words for that, but it had me sulking after realizing just how exceptionally good other stories are compared to mine, despite all the effort. Therefore expect a whole new level of chapters from me - if I actually manage to pull that one off.**

**Anyway, have a nice day and enjoy your weekend.**


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